Annika and the Emissary
by seraphim2db
Summary: In answer to scifiromance's challenge what if Sisko met Seven of Nine first. Their lives crashing down around them the Emissary and the Scorpion must hold each other up as a family. Takes place after the battle of Wolf 359 and before Voyager starts. Will eventually be C/7.
1. Prologue

A/N I hope you guys have seen DS9 because it'll make it easier for you to know who Ben and other characters from that show are. If not it's no big deal because it's an easy story to follow along with. Also please take it easy on me guys this is my first Star Trek fic that I've posted on here.

Prologue

San Francisco

2353

"Magnus are you sure you want to do this?" a young black cadet with a deep baritone voice asked as he took a seat at a dinner table.

"I've been waiting for something like this my whole life, Ben." Magnus replied as he handed him a cup of coffee. "Just think about how big of a discovery this would be? We'd be the first humans in over two hundred years to lay eyes on the Borg."

"Two hundred years?" Ben asked shockingly as he almost choked on his coffee. "What do you mean? I've never heard of any account of humans coming into contact with these... Borg."

"Oh um... I really wasn't supposed to say anything about that." Magnus said as a certain rebellious look of mischief came into his eyes. "But what the hell, I'll tell you anyway."

As he said that he grabbed a cup of coffee himself and took a seat at the table, opposite of his old friend and student. They had met several years ago when Ben had taken an interest in Starfleet and the two had become fast friends. When Ben had finally joined, Magnus had the honor of being one of his teachers in exobiology.

"I was sworn to secrecy by Starfleet command so you have to promise not to repeat what I'm about to say to you." at Ben's nod he continued. "About three hundred years ago in 2063 Zefram Cochrane completed his first successful warp flight..."

"I already know that story." Ben interrupted.

"Isn't that the reason why you got bad grades in my class?" Magnus asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because you were always interrupting me when I was about to make a point."

"Sorry." the younger man said with a smile, that he tried to hide behind his coffee mug. "Please go on."

"What the history books don't tell you is that the day before the flight he was attacked by cybernetic beings. Years later and even telling the story again on his death bed all he would say about it was that he was helped by some people from the future to get rid of them and the next day he was able to make his historical flight. They thought that he was crazy and so to not tarnish his accomplishments and the history of what he had done they made sure it never went into the history books."

"That... that's an incredible story."

"One that gets even more incredible. In 2153 a scientific team in the Arctic discovered two mysterious cyborgs, similar to those described by Zefram Cochrane in the snow. The story gets a little vague from there, but it was said that the scientists had somehow turned into the Borg and made their way into space. Jonathan Archer stopped them, but not before they sent out a subspace message headed towards the Delta Quadrant. The powers that be at the time decided to cover it up and it's been a standing order every since."

"Wow... just wow." Ben said, his head spinning at this news.

He also couldn't help to think that it was a bad move on Starfleet's part that others weren't told about these Borg beings. Even though it would take centuries for that subspace message to reach the Delta Quadrant it still wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

"And you're sure you want to go after these things?" Ben asked. "I mean no one knows what they are truly capable of."

"That's why I want to find them, Ben." Magnus replied with a smile. "I've... we've got to know what's really out there."

As he said that the door to the apartment opened and in walked a tall pretty blond woman holding the hands of the cutest little girl Ben had ever seen. Smiling at her, she smiled back before shyly hiding behind her mothers leg.

"Oh I didn't know we were expecting company." the woman said as she gave her husband a kiss on the lips.

"Sorry about that hun." Magnus said as he picked up his daughter. "Erin this is my old friend and former student Benjamin Sisko. Ben this is my wife Erin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Ben said as they shook hands. "And who might you be?" he asked of the little girl.

"It's all right honey, Ben won't bite you." Magnus said as his daughter ducked her head into his shoulder.

"My name is Annika." she said meeting Ben's gaze.

"Annika, that's a pretty name."

"Thank you." the little girl said back as her father put her on the ground.

"Honey why don't you go and finish packing." Erin said as she smiled down at her.

"Okay.. mom." she said as she started to walk towards her room, before looking back at Ben. "I hope I see you again, Mr. Sisko."

"I hope so too." Ben replied as she ducked out of the room. "Cute kid."

"Well look at her mom." Magnus said as his wife lightly hit him on the shoulder. "Speaking of kids when are you going to have some?"

"Soon, I hope. I'm just waiting for the right girl to come along." he said as a thought occurred to him. "Wait you're taking the girl with you?"

"Yeah and I'm taking my wife." Magnus said meeting his gaze evenly. Knowing that Ben wasn't being critical of his decision and was just concerned he went on. "Everything is going to be fine. I've thought of some ways to prevent us from being detected but, I need to study the Borg a little more."

"All right." the younger man said not wanting to press the issue. It was the other man's family and not his by the way. "Just good luck." and with that he headed towards the door.

"Hey did you want to stay for dinner?" Magnus suddenly asked. "My wife can replicate a mean pasta."

"I'd love to stay but my father is expecting me home in a hour." he said thinking about the good food he was going to get back in New Orleans. His father always hated replicated food and he did in turn. "Goodbye."

As he said that and closed the door, he hoped it wasn't the last time he would see his old friend.

A/N Please review and just stick with me guys I promise the story is going to get even better.


	2. Chapter 1 All Falls Down

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any of it's characters, only the one's that I create.

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews and I hope you guys like this story. I also wanted to ask scifiromance for her forgiveness because I forgot to say that she is my beta for this story. She's doing a heck of a job and if you haven't already done it please read and review her story 'The Gift' it's awesome.

Chapter 1

All Falls Down

2356

"Annika!" Magnus yelled out desperately as he was being pulled back by a Borg drone. Thirteen point two seconds. That's all it had taken for his multi-adaptive shielding to fail before the Borg had converged on his ships position. It had only taken him thirteen seconds to fail his family of which he knew in his heart he'd probably never see again.

Even though everything he had was about to fall down, he still looked over at his one and only child, willing her with his eyes to run.

"Run... hide!" his wife yelled out, seeing that her daughter was frozen in place. Taking his eyes off his daughter for a moment, he saw his beautiful wife lying on the floor, a Borg drone holding her arm in a firm grip.

He knew that this was it for him and his wife, because they had observed in detail what the Borg had done for months, but if only his little girl could be spared.

"Run, Annika!" Erin yelled again.

Trembling with fear the little girl looked from her mother to her father, not knowing what to do.

"Papa." she spoke up as the Borg suddenly took notice of her. "Help me."

With a tear in his eye, he extended his hand and yelled out her name, even as the drone that was holding him stuck it's assimilation tubes into his neck. Her father's yell being the thing that snapped her fully out of her daze, she ran into the adjourning room and huddled under a console. Hugging her legs to her chest, she began to shake, terrified on hearing her parent's screams.

She didn't understand. Her papa had told her that everything would be okay but now... Suddenly she saw the legs of two Borg drones standing over the console she was hiding under.

'No, did they find me?' she thought to herself as she began to squirm helplessly in terror. With wide eyes she shrunk back further under the console, as both of the drone's peered down at her. Watching in horror she saw that one of them had extended a Borgified arm at her and it was getting closer by the second.

"Resistance is futile." it told her.

"No!No!" Annika screamed out in anguish as it stuck it's assimilation tubes into her neck. With a scream her last thought as an individual was that of her parents and then nothing before the voices of thousands filled her mind.

Wolf 359

Eleven Years Later

The bridge of the old Miranda class USS Saratoga seemed almost frozen in time as the bridge crew stared face to face via view-screen with the Federation's newest enemy. The Borg. What was worse was that they had taken over one of their own. One of the most decorated officers in Starfleet, Captain Jean Luc Picard.

A thick red beam of light cut through the tension that was on the Bridge, causing Commander Benjamin Sisko's brow to twitch nervously. It also made him think back on a time when an old friend of his was searching for these things. He idly wondered if he had found what he was looking for.

"Resistance is futile." Picard... no the thing Locutus said as he walked past several drones and addressed the crew. "You will disarm your weapons and escort us to sector zero zero one. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."

"Red alert." Captain Skon said stoically as he crossed the bridge and sat heavily down at his chair. Even though he was a Vulcan, he could still sense the tension in the air and it almost un-nerved even him. "Load all torpedo bays. Ready phasers."

"Move us to position alpha, Ensign." Sisko said as he began to pace, never taking his eyes off of the main viewer.

Getting into formation as she was instructed, the ship fired phasers and photons, which had no effect. Ignoring them the Borg ship sent out a cutting beam at the Melbourne that started to cut through their defenses like a hot knife through butter. When the Melbourne's shields failed and the ship exploded, the Borg ship immediately turned its attention to the Saratoga... sending out another tractor beam.

"They've locked onto us, sir." the OPS officer yelled out over the loud hum of the beam.

"Reroute auxiliary power." Sisko tried to say calmly, knowing in the pit of his stomach that this could be the end.

"Our shields are being drained. Sixty four percent. Forty two. "

"Recalibrate shield nutation. " Captain Skon suggested.

"Modulation is having no effect. " The big Bolian tactical officer reported.

"Shields have failed." OPS called out.

"Full reverse." Ben ordered as a whining noise started to fill the air.

"Maintain all Argh!"Captain Skon was interrupted by a huge explosion that shook the Bridge.

When it stopped there was smoke and fire and other massive damage. The forward consoles spat sparks and emergency lights came on, as Sisko found himself on the floor, having been thrown there by the blast. Rubbing at his sore temple, he found a gash on his forehead. Trying to shake it off, he tried to regain his bearings.

* * *

Borg Cube

Locutus watched the battle before him with dispassion. The Federation was so utterly pathetic in their attempts to protect their home-world, that if he had his own free will he would have questioned the Queen on why she wanted Earth so badly.

Feeling a presence beside him, he slowly turned around and stared at the woman who had chosen him as her Ambassador.

"We believe that the humans would make better drones." she said as if reading his mind, which may have very well been the case.

Not saying a word he slowly looked to the main viewer and stared at the Saratoga.

* * *

"Damage report." Ben yelled out as he finally cleared the cobwebs out of his head. After a moment of not hearing anything but the roaring fire and a conduit spewing out plasma, he tried again. "Damage report!"

The Bolian tactical officer Lt. Corvin was the only other one alive in the room and even though he was hurt worse than Sisko, he struggled to his feet to read his console...

"Direct hit...decks one through four..." as he was saying that Sisko checked the dead Captain and other officers. Still tapping into his console, he found something else disturbing. "Sir we've been boarded. Decks..." Before he could finish reading off the information his console fizzled out.

"Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in five minutes." the Computer announced over the loud speaker.

"This ship is lost anyway." Sisko reasoned. "If they want it let them have it. Let's just get the civilians to the escape pods, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir." the tactical officer acknowledged as he followed Sisko out.

* * *

"Come on everybody over here to the escape pod!" a tall Ensign with sandy blond hair yelled to the people behind him. "We can fit at least..."

He stopped as he heard an unfamiliar whine coming from further down the corridor. Even though the lights were blinking off and on, he knew what he saw before him. It was the Borg.

"Resistance is futile." the leader said as her team started to walk around her and jab a few people in the neck with assimilation tubes.

Ensign Tucker could only look on in horror as a small hole opened up on one of the civilian's faces, before a borg implant sprouted out and started to move through his body. Turning, at a woman's scream he saw as the red head slowly began to change. First her skin turned ghastly pale, even as nanites began to appear under the soft tissue of her body.

A type of metal bodysuit began to form over her chest and quickly spread to the rest of her abdomen. Soon one of her eyeballs deteriorated into nothingness, exposing the pink tissue behind it, only for a metal piece to take it's place. Spreading quickly to her arm, the nanites tore it off below the elbow, only to quickly make a metal arm.

Seeing what the Borg could do, first hand, he took out his phaser and adjusted it to a wide beam configuration. Taking out two drones at once, they fell to the floor, dead and disappeared. Aiming it at the leader, he fired off a shot, only for a green personal shield to block his shot. Not knowing what else to do he charged her, just as a power conduit exploded beside them.

* * *

As Ben and Corvin walked out into the corridor, it was like they had walked into the bowels of hell itself. The corridor was engulfed in fire and yelling and crying could be heard in the distance. The ships stabilizers fell, and everything was leaning left just a little their head at the sight of it they fought their way through the fire. They found some injured civilians, who were trying to gather personal possessions in their arms to take with them. Not having it Sisko became alert, professional.

"Leave everything... Go to your assigned evacuation area now." and if to prove that they needed to be in a hurry, they heard the Computer's voice.

"Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in three minutes..."

Snapping to himself, they walked on and came to a wounded woman struggling to get down the hallway...

"Doran." he called out. Turning she leaned exhaustingly into him. With a heavy sigh the tactical officer lifted her up.

"I'll take care of her. You go on." he said knowing what he was going to do.

"Have you seen Jennifer?" Sisko asked her.

With tears glistening she looked at him with mournful eyes and his heart jumped into his throat. That fear guided him as he moved down the hallway with more focus, only stopping as he came to a door that was jammed open. Smoke billowing out of it.

Managing to get it open, he looked into the room and saw that it was destroyed. An explosion had ripped a hole in the floor causing fire and smoke to come streaking up through it. Outside the window he could see that the battle with the Borg ship was still continuing.

Ignoring it, Sisko entered and immediately saw his wife buried in rubble. Heart pounding, he urgently pulled things away to get to her. After a few seconds he uncovered the upper part of her body and beside her was their unconscious nine year old son Jake.

"It's gonna be okay." Ben said calmly. "I'll get you out of there... you're gonna be okay."

Trying as hard as he could, he just couldn't lift the wreckage that had crushed her lower half. His now calm demeanor was betrayed by his hands that were desperately trying to lift the heavy debris.

Ignoring the pain, he still failed to make any headway, so with a deepening frown he returned to the front and tried to pull his son free. Luckily enough he was small enough to be eased out. With a start he moved slightly, barely conscious, but not hurt critically.

"Okay, Jake... we'll just get your Mom now and get outta here..."

Hearing his father's voice Jake mumbled but was still very groggy and didn't respond. At that moment his tactical officer entered the room.

"Commander..." he said warningly, letting him know it was time to go.

"Help me..." Sisko all but begged, defeated.

Hurriedly the officer moved in and examined Jennifer's lifeless body with his tricorder. Closing it as it beeped an affirmative answer, he quickly determined she was dead.

"Sir, we have to get to the..." he stopped talking, as he saw his commander's hands. They were incredibly bloody and burned.

Seeing what he was looking at, Sisko glanced numbly at his hands, before speaking again. "Just help me get her free..."

"She's gone." Lt. Corvin said firmly as he gathered Jake up in his arms. "There's nothing we can do..."

"Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in two minutes..." the Computer's voice said. Not accepting it, Sisko shook his head and took Jennifer's hand in his...

"You go ahead, Lieutenant. Take the boy."

His voice was calm and reassuring and as he said it another man might leave him behind... but as a security man stuck his head in the door, making one last check through the quarters, Lt. Corvin handed off Jake to him and firmly pulled Sisko to his feet...

"Now, sir..."

His calm was undermined by the force he used to resist the tactical officer's attempts to pull him out. Lt. Corvin needed all of his Bolian strength to force his commanding officer to leave. Sisko was now without emotion, he felt no pain from his hands... and yet he held them up above the elbow level like a beggar...

"Dammit... we can't leave her here!" he yelled as his Tactical officer dragged him out of the room, down the corridor and into an escape pod.

Sitting Sisko down, where the security officer was seated holding Jake, he looked and saw a dozen others cramped in the pod lifeboat style. Not all the way snapping out of it, Ben could have sworn he saw an unconcious Borg drone on the floor, one of his security officers with a burnt and bloody uniform, with his phaser trained on it.

The tactical officer pressed some panels causing the door to slide shut and then without any dramatic fanfare, there was a woosh and a shake and the Saratoga shot the pod away from it.

For his part Ben stood up and watched the other pods as they got further away from the wreckage of broken ships. Noticing the flashes of lightning from continued warfare with the Borg not far away he watched as the Saratoga exploded, the light from it highlighting his face. A face that was full of rage.

"Re...resistance is futile." The female Borg said weakly from beside him.

"We'll see about that." Ben sneered as he snatched the phaser out of his officer's hand and shot her in the chest.

Please review...


	3. Chapter 2 If I Ever See Your Face Again

A/N It feels good to wake up in the morning and see so many new reviews and people following this story. It really gets me going so thanks for all the support.

Chapter 2

If I Ever See Your Face Again

New Orleans, LA

Three Days Later

Sitting in a dark room alone, Ben nursed the bottle of scotch that had been in his hand for the last thirty minutes. Three days ago in less then ten minutes his life had changed forever. He was glad that he had gotten out alive but at what cost?

He had lost the woman of his dreams and couldn't even bury her. He had lost his soul mate. But out of all of that darkness and gloom she had left him something behind. Something that she had given her life to protect and was the culmination of them both. Jake.

A son. A son that he had to now raise alone. As he sat there pondering his situation the door to the small room suddenly opened, letting much needed light shine into the room. As he shielded his eyes, a voice suddenly spoke to him.

"Ben, there you are." Joseph, his father said to him. "I've been looking all over for you."

"And now you found me." Ben replied taking a swig of his drink.

"Ben I won't let you do this." his father said with a sad look on his face, as he placed his hand over his sons. "I know how you feel..."

As he said that he earned a glare from his son. Sitting there in thought for a moment, Ben's sadness deepened as he realized that he was referring to his mother. She had died nearly twenty years ago from progressive atherosclerosis. She was bedridden for months and he swore that he would never forget the look of pain and anguish that was on her face and that of his father's. Snapping out of his pity party a little he realized that his father was still talking to him.

"...you also have Jake to worry about. It's going to be hard raising him yourself, but you'll do fine. I did it and look how great my kids turned out."

"I...I just need time." Ben replied solemnly as he swept a hand through his hair.

"You know I'll watch after Jake as long as you need me to." Joseph replied as he gave Ben's hand a gentle squeeze. "But remember your son needs you now."

Letting his hand go, he was about to walk to the door when he remembered why he was looking for Ben in the first place.

"Your sister tells me that you're thinking about dropping out of Starfleet?"

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"My dream for you was for you to become a chef like me and my father were." Joseph started. "Ironically enough a long time ago a beautiful young woman convinced me that Starfleet was your dream every since you were a little boy. That's a dream that I don't want you to throw away son. Trust me you'll regret it."

"I'm going to Starfleet Medical tomorrow." Ben called out before his dad went out the door. As he turned they met each others gaze. "I want to see that thing that helped kill my wife."

"I'll leave Jake with your sister and accompany you then."

Before Ben could protest his father walked out of the door. With a sardonic smile he put down the bottle of scotch and got up to take a much needed sonic shower.

Starfleet Medical

The Next Day

The medical facility was a buzz with activity as Joseph and Benjamin Sisko walked through the long white hallway. As their guide, a Vulcan woman, stopped in front of a window, they peeked inside and saw a security team as well as a pretty red head and a shorter woman with long black hair arguing with someone.

"What's going on in there?" Joseph asked as he struggled to see who the two women were talking or rather arguing with.

"The same thing that has been going on for several days." The Vulcan woman, T'Laina said impassively. "When this Borg drone was brought here she was heavily sedated and unconscious. We scanned her and found that she is about fifteen or sixteen and had been a drone for nearly ten years. She has also been severed from the Collective, as Captain Picard called it." At the mention of the older man's name a cold shiver ran up Ben's spine.

"We also ran some blood tests and determined that she had one living relative. An aunt named Irene. Since the drone is underage, her aunt gave us the go ahead to remove her implants. When she awoke however she went hysterical and started to destroy this room. Her aunt couldn't deal with her and left her here, so we had to bring in Doctor Beverly Crusher and Counselor Troi from the Enterprise to try to deal with her."

"Her aunt just left her?" Joseph asked in awe. He could never imagine leaving his family behind.

"It serves that thing right." Ben said placing a dark smile on his face as he turned around to leave. "That's all I needed to see. I just needed to know that it was suffering more then I am."

"Benjamin Lafayette Sisko you get back here!" Joseph yelled out angrily. Snapping his head back angrily, Ben walked back over to him. "I lost my wife too, son. That young woman in there is only sixteen years old and her childhood was robbed from her and God knows what else."

Letting that sink into Ben's head for a moment he went on.

"She's just as much a victim as everyone else, because the Borg took everything away from her at a young age. Now get yourself together because this is not the man that I raised."

"I'm... I'm sorry." Ben said as he looked to the floor. Giving Ben's shoulder a gentle squeeze, Joseph turned around and addressed T'Laina.

"Young lady would you mind taking us to see the girl?" Joseph asked. "And if you don't mind I'd prefer it if you didn't call her a drone. She's one of us and I'd assume that she has a name."

Ignoring the urge to tell the man that even though she looked young she was probably older then him, she eyed him evenly. "Her name is Annika Hansen."

"Annika?" Ben asked after a moment of thinking. Where have I heard that name before, then it hit him. "Did you say Annika Hansen?"

'Annika? I haven't heard that name in years.' Joseph thought to himself. "Do you know her?" he asked as Ben looked into the window and finally saw her.

She was beautiful and tall like her mother and had what he assumed was long blond hair tied up tightly in a bun. Even though she had a few Borg implants of which he assumed couldn't be removed, on her face and probably on her body that wasn't the most important feature about her. It was her piercing blue eyes. Blue eyes that he hadn't seen in over ten years. Eyes that now looked over at him.

"Yes." Ben finally said. "I do know her. She's an old friend."

* * *

Feeling a form of pleasure as Doctor Crusher and Diana Troi walked out of the room, the security team having stayed behind, Seven of Nine started to think about her predicament. Her Queen had ordered her onto the cube that was to invade earth with a standing order that she would act as a form of Emissary until she arrived in the Alpha Quadrant.

Having chosen Locutus as her ambassador, she was so close to completing her mission until the Enterprise foiled her plans. Having failed her mission, she began to ponder how to get off of Earth and back to the Delta Quadrant. It was a thought that would have to wait for another time however as she heard the soft swish of the door opening.

Looking up she saw a short older black man, followed by a younger black man in his thirties. Her eyes lingered on the younger man a second longer for a reason she couldn't figure out.

"Annika."

"That is not this drone's designation." she cut Ben off. "This drone is Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01."

"That's a hell of a name." Joseph joked as Ben walked forward.

"You're just as beautiful as your mother." Ben said as he tried to touch her face, stopping as he saw that she was behind a force field.

Flinching away from his gesture, Seven's voice was laced with venom as she asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm Benjamin Sisko." he replied softly as he dropped his hand. "I know it's been a long time but... don't you remember me?"

"No... no this drone does not remember you or anyone from this system." Seven said as she turned away from him. "You will not try to trick this drone into believing your lies. We are not this Annika that you speak of."

"Yes you are." Ben said trying to think of a way to prove his point. "I only met you once and it was about ten years ago. You were a pretty little girl wearing... wearing a red dress."

'And you told me I had a pretty name.' a loose thought popped into her head. Pushing it away she crouched over on the floor, her head throbbing in pain. "No!"

"Ben..."

"It's okay, dad." Ben went on not taking his eyes off of Seven. "Annika you have to re..."

Before he could complete his sentence a man and another security team entered into the room. The lead man wore the blue and black uniform of a science officer and had the pips of a commander. Even though he seemed to be a Starfleet officer there was something sinister in his eyes, something Ben knew not to trust.

Giving the security team already in the room a nod, he walked over to the group his hand extended.

"My name is Commander Bruce Maddox." the man said as he shook Joseph's hand and then Ben's. "I'm an Associate Chair of Robotics at the Daystrom Technological Institute and lead cyberneticist for Starfleet command."

"Well Commander, what brings you here?" Joseph asked as he introduced himself and his son.

"To take Seven of Nine with me of course." the man said eyeing her almost evilly.

"Under what grounds?" Ben asked as he and his father shared a look. Something about this wasn't right.

"Under the grounds of what she helped to do four days ago." Maddox said looking between the two. "I have explicit permission to take her by Starfleet command since her aunt gave up all parental rights to her."

"I'm afraid you're out of luck, Commander." Ben said after a moment of thinking. He had heard of this man and knew what he was capable of because of what he tried to do to Lt. Commander Data two years ago.

"Oh?" Maddox asked as he looked back to Ben. "How so?"

"Because she's a minor and I've already put in for her to be adopted by me." he said in a huff as Maddox, his father, and even Seven of Nine to raise an eyebrow at that statement. His father knew it was a bluff. A bluff he hoped the others wouldn't see through.

"That's lunacy!" Maddox yelled angrily, feeling the new discoveries in cybernetics slipping out of his grasp. "Wait, I heard of you. Didn't that thing over there help to kill your wife? Why the hell would you want to help it?"

"Believe me that's none of your damn business!" Ben said getting inches from the other man's face. Feeling his hand twitch he struggled to keep himself under control. He couldn't believe that the other man had the audacity to mention his wife and it left him to wonder if they would come after her if she were a Borg drone. "And if you ever mention my wife again, duty and rank aside, I'll be more than happy to help you keep your mouth shut."

"Starfleet command..."

"You tell Starfleet command that Annika is mine and I won't let her go!" Ben yelled out, not believing his own voice and what was coming out of his mouth.

Thinking for a moment he knew in his heart that this was what Magnus and his wife would have wanted. Most importantly if Jennifer were still alive this was what she would have wanted, because she had a big heart and he knew that she had always wanted a daughter.

"You haven't heard the last of me." Commander Maddox said lowly as he spun on his heel and he and his men walked out of the room.

"Way to go, Ben." Joseph said happily as he out a hand on his son's shoulder.

"So what do you think, Annika?" Ben asked, lowly. "Would you like to come with us?"

"We are Seven of Nine Tertiary..."

"That's really a mouthful." Joseph interrupted. "Can we just call you Seven for short?"

"That name is acceptable... for now." she said as her head started to hurt again. "One. One. My designation is Seven of Nine, but the others are gone. Designations are no longer relevant. I am - one."

"Yes, you're supposed to be." Ben said with a bitter smile.

"But I cannot function this way. How could anything function this way, alone?"

"You're not alone. You have me now. I... we are willing to help you." he said looking back at his father who nodded.

"If that's true, you won't do this to me. Take me back to my own kind."

"But you are with your own kind. We're humans Ann... Seven." he stopped to correct himself. He saw that he was finally getting through to her and didn't want the slightest slip of tongue to undermine the whole thing.

"I don't remember my parents or being human. I don't know what it is to be human. What are you doing?"

Touching a few buttons on a panel on the wall, he dropped the force field, as if they could hold her for long anyway.

"I'm coming in."

"I'll kill you."

"You won't." he said sternly, meeting her gaze. "I can look into your eyes and I know you won't. I need you to trust..."

"Trust is irrelevant! Take me back to the Borg."

"I can't do that." Ben said sadly.

"So quiet." Seven said as if her heart were breaking. "One voice."

"Yes one voice. Your voice. Not the voice of a thousand or a million others. Yours." he said as he sat down next to her. "Trust me, yours is more powerful then theirs will ever be. You can fight this."

"You are forcing this sense of individuality upon me. It's not mine."

"It's always been yours. I'm just helping you get back what was stolen from you. The existence you were denied, the child who never had a chance, that life is yours to live now."

"We don't want that life."

"It's what you are. Don't resist it."

"If we come with you, we will become fully human?

"Yes, I hope so."

"We will be autonomous, independent?"

"That's what individuality is, Seven."

"If at that time we choose to return to the Collective, will you permit it?"

"After your time with me and my family, I don't think you'll want to do that."

"You would deny us the choice as you deny us now. You have imprisoned us in the name of humanity yet you will not grant us your most cherished human right. To choose our own fate. You are hypocritical, manipulative. We do not want to be what you are! Return us to the Collective!"

"You lost the right to make your own choice and carve out your own destiny the moment you were assimilated. They took that from you, and until I'm convinced you've gotten it back I'm making the choice for you. You're staying here with me."

"Then you are no different than the Borg."

"I..I..." was all Ben could get out as he thought about what she said. "I'll make a deal with you then. Live with me for at least one year and promise me that you won't try to assimilate us and that you will give it your all at being human. You share laughs with us, enjoy music, food and if after that time you want to go back to the Borg... I'll let you go."

"Ben!" his father shouted.

"It's all right."

"Then it is agreed." Seven replied. Maybe she had found her way off this rock after all.

Please review


	4. Chapter 3 Let Me In

A/N You guys like me. You really, really like me. Seriously though wow, the support you guys have given me for this fic is overwhelming, so thanks. This is the first fic I've had that garnered this many reviews and follows so fast. The least I can do is give you guys another chapter as thanks.

Chapter 3

Let Me In

Wiping away the last of his tears, Jake laid on his bed struggling to remember her face. His mother's face. Even though it had been only four days ago when he had last saw her, it was still so hard.

She would never smile at him with that beautiful smile again. She would never yell at him to clean up his room or to wash behind his ears. She would never... Even though it was hard to remember her face he would always remember the last thing she did for him.

When the ship started to shake and their room started to fall apart, she had flung herself on top of him. She had done it out of love and she had done it even if it would buy him an extra second of life. That's what he would always remember about her, if nothing else.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Startled, he nearly fell off the bed.

"Jake." a voice said as the door slowly creaked open. "Are you decent? I want you to come out and see your new house guest."

"I really don't want to see anybody, grandpa." Jake replied, lowering his head. Putting a finger under the boy's chin, he made him look up to him.

"Believe me Jake I know how you feel my boy." Joseph said letting out a breath. "But this house guest... well hopefully she's going to be here for awhile. I think it's important that you meet her because hopefully she can help you... heal."

"Okay, Grandpa." the little boy said as he slowly walked out of the room.

"Wow." That was the first word that came out of Jake's mouth as Seven of Nine walked through the front door of his father's house. She had to have been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. "Can I have you... help you?" he asked as the girl raised a curious eyebrow towards him.

"Jake!" Ben barked out snapping the boy out of his pre-adolescent musings.

He was young once too and knew what he must have been thinking. Especially since Seven had on a silver skin tight catsuit, that didn't leave much to the imagination, even for a teenage girl. He had asked the doctor's why she had to wear it and they told him, it was just in case her nanoprobes reactivated and started to sprout out on her body, then it would be easier for him to see and call for help. Whatever... he still didn't like it.

"Dad when did you get here?" Jake asked, trying not to hard to snap out of his stupor.

"I got here the same time she did." Ben replied with a roll of his eyes. "Jake this is Seven of Nine. Seven this is my son Jake." he properly introduced.

"How did you get a name with numbers?" Jake asked her dumbly.

"Jake!" Ben said letting out a sigh.

"It is... all right." Seven said with a slight grin, never taking her eyes off of Jake. "He did not offend me."

'Her voice is beautiful too.' the little boy thought to himself, completely ignoring the Borg implants on her face and hand. His mind was in complete childlike bliss as he stared at Seven's pouty heart shaped lips.

"Seven come with me, I'll show you to your room and help you build your regeneration chamber." Ben said as he walked past her.

"She's staying with us?" Jake asked as he couldn't take it anymore and fainted.

Looking down at his son incredulously, Ben looked to Seven and saw that she was looking back at him as if saying, "What did I do?" Glancing back down at his son, he saw that he had drool coming from the corner of his mouth, while mumbling Seven is beautiful in his state of unconsciousness.

'Wait until he finds out that she's legally his sister.' Ben thought to himself as he shook his head, darkly. It took some doing but Ben was able to talk to Admiral Ross and he'd been able to adopt Seven relatively quickly.

"What happened to him?" Joseph asked as he walked into the room and moved to pick Jake up off of the floor.

"I"ll tell you later." he said looking at his father. "But when he wakes up tell him what's going on."

It didn't take Ben as long as he thought to help Seven fashion the regeneration alcove in her room. He had wanted to talk to her and get to know her better as they worked, but she seemed very dismissive with everything she told him.

Then it hit him, she wasn't necessarily not talking to him, because she hated him, but rather what was there for her to talk about? Her childhood was robbed from her and she knew nothing of the outside world. It was only what she assimilated. She had nothing of her own to hold onto.

He wanted to bring up the subject of her parents again, but he knew that the subject matter would make them go backwards in their relationship. If that's what you could call this.

'At least she's not trying to assimilate all of us.' he thought loosely to himself.

"Hey you two, dinner is almost ready." Joseph said as he poked his head into the room. "Hmmm. I see you almost got that damned thing ready."

"Dad..."

"I just can't see what's wrong with catching a few z's on a nice soft bed." Joseph went on, his hate of technology prevalent in his voice. "A pretty girl should have a nice bed to sleep in, not a coffin."

"The bed would be more of a coffin for me." Seven interrupted. "Because, I'd catch... Z's forever if I slept in one for more then a few days without regenerating."

"Fair enough." Joseph said with a chuckle as he walked out of the room.

* * *

"Why do you sit down at a table?" Seven asked as Joseph and Ben put down plates and platters of food in front of them.

"Because this is where, family's go to be social." Ben informed her as he placed some gumbo in a bowl and put it in front of her. "You know we talk about our day, eat, share stories. That sort of thing."

Seven eyed the family of three with curiosity as they passed down cornbread and gumbo along the table. She found it so strange to be with an actual family instead of with the Borg. A stray memory of her eating with her parents tried to break through the surface of her mind. Shaking her head she looked around the table again to finish her assessment.

In her family... in her Collective Joseph Sisko would be immediately discarded, because he was too old. But here he was eating with his family and giving them advice about life. He was useful and not easily discarded like others she had seen in the Borg that had reached his age.

Then there was Benjamin Sisko. He was a strong man, intelligent, and hard working. He would make an excellent drone. But those qualities would also make a good father. Shaking her head at that thought, she looked to the youngest member of the group, Jake.

She didn't even try to assess him at all, rather she just stared at him for a long moment. He looked so sad and on the verge of tears. She also noticed that he didn't touch his food at all. He had a look on his face that even in a million years, she wouldn't be able to describe.

"May I be excused?" he suddenly asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"But Jake you haven't touched your food." Ben said, putting down the slice of cornbread he had in his hand.

"I'm just not hungry." he replied, his voice barely a whisper.

"You... you're excused." and as Ben barely got that out of his mouth, Jake hopped out of his seat and went out the front door, slamming it behind him.

"He's taking his mother's death really hard." Joseph mumbled more to himself, then anybody else as he looked at Jake sitting down skipping rocks across the pond. "Hopefully he can snap out of this funk soon."

"May I be excused as well?" Seven asked, already standing to her feet.

"Of course." Joseph said in surprise as he looked at her bowl. "Didn't you like my gumbo?"

"As Doctor Crusher stated, my metabolism won't reassert itself for another few weeks." merely saying that she walked out of the front door as well.

As she walked outside, she saw Jake sitting on a large rock, throwing smaller ones into the pond. She had to admit that he made for an easy target. All she had to do was stick her assimilation tubes into his neck and turn him. Then go back into the house and do the same to his father.

'And then what?' her conscience spoke up. 'Even if you could do that there's no way you would get off earth with this many people knowing who and where you are.'

Besides she had no desire to harm Jake. For some reason she felt strangely attached to him. 'It's because he lost his mother too.' that voice in her head spoke again.

"Seven." Jake said, already knowing she was there.

Eyebrow going up slightly, she wondered how he knew she was behind him.

"Why do the borg hate us?"

"The borg do not hate." Seven said proudly as she walked up and stood beside him. "We assimilate other races in order to be perfect."

"Oh." was all Jake said as he skipped another rock. Sitting down beside him, she watched as he picked up another rock and the two sat in an uncomfortable silence.

A silence that was broken by another question.

"Where do you go when you die?" he suddenly asked, catching her off guard.

Seven had wanted to tell the little boy nowhere, but something in her told her to give him another answer. "I... I don't know."

"If you don't know then why did you take my mom away from me!?" he asked angrily as he looked up at her. Not being able to hold it in he broke down into tears, his body racking with sobs. "I'm sorry... I'm sor..."

As he said that he suddenly threw his little arms around her waist and engulfed her in a tight hug. Totally caught off guard and not knowing why she was feeling protective of the boy, she hugged him back.

* * *

Lowering his phaser rifle, from the top story window ledge of his house, Ben took the controls off of the kill setting and put it back on stun. Putting it down all together he breathed a sigh of relief. He automatically thought that Seven would try to hurt Jake, so he grabbed his rifle and headed upstairs, waiting for the moment of maybe having to pull the trigger.

'But here they are hugging.' he thought to himself. 'Maybe they are all the other needed.'

Wiping the bead of sweat off of his forehead, he stood up and walked back downstairs. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw that his father was eyeing him warily.

"It was a false alarm." Ben said sitting back down.

"I know it was." he replied as he turned back to the window. "Ben no matter what she looks like or how she acts, she's still a frightened little girl. A frightened little girl that needs a father and honestly I can't think of a better man for the job."

Ignoring the urge to sigh, Ben leaned back in his chair and looked out of the window to see Jake teaching Seven to skip rocks.

"You have to cut Seven a little slack. She's a Sisko now and she needs you to trust her so she can start trusting you."

'Because I'm her guide.' he thought to himself.

"I'm going to go home." Joseph said standing to his feet with a grunt. He hated feeling so old. "I'll be back to check on you three in a few days."

Please Review...


	5. Chapter 4 Of Bonding and Assimilation

A/N First and foremost I wanted to thank you guys for reviewing and allowing me to entertain you. To Allen Pitt I'm actually glad you brought up Picard because he's going to appear in a later Chapter. I hated how in DS9 that he and Ben didn't really have any real closure (actually Ben never got any real closure to his wife dying on the show) but that's what that chapter is going to be about, them getting a little closure. Also did you get that pm I sent you the other day? Also I wanted to give a shout out to Ronnie, Mr. Spock, Try to Resist, and Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay. Thanks for being loyal readers and reviewers. I've babbled enough so on with this chapter.

Chapter 4

Of Bonding and Assimilation

The sun shone high over the desert, bringing a scorching heat over the valley. As a lone figure walked through sand dunes and up a hill, a single bead of sweat rolled down their back.

Finally coming up the hill, Seven shielded her eyes with her hand as she heard a voice. Not just the voice of one person, but of thousands. It was like a din of Borgified voices. Voices of males, females, and children all overlapped in jumbled discord as an eerie hydraulic thumping and hissing noise emulated the beating of a heart...

Hearing a shuffling noise, she looked ahead of herself and saw two borg drones, covered with sand, moving menacingly toward her. As they neared the Borgified voices started slowly coming together in unity, but what they were saying was still indiscernible.

Fear suddenly gripping her as the two Borg drones moved closer to her Seven pushed past them and started running down the hill they had just walked up from. As she got a fair distance away the Borgified voices began to harmonize.

"You will be assimilated and become one with the Borg."

'But isn't that what I wanted?' Seven thought to herself as she continued her run. Looking over her shoulder, she suddenly bumped into something, making her fall down on the hot sand.

Chancing a glance up, her heart fell as she saw Ben and Jake as Borg drones.

"Resistance is futile, Annika." Benjamin said eeriely in his usual Baritone voice.

"You will become one with the Borg." Jake added, his voice amplified by the many voices of the Borg speaking as one.

Seven's eyes suddenly popped open and her breathing became heavy.

"Regeneration cycle, incomplete." her personal computer beeped as she stepped out of her alcove.

'Was that all just a... dream?' she asked herself, trying to process what happened.

Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi had told her that as her humanity began to assert itself that something like this would happen and she didn't like it.

'But why was I running from the, Borg?' she asked herself. 'I want to be a part of them again.'

'No you don't.' that strange voice in her head spoke to her again. 'You have a second chance at life. Take it.'

Before she could question the voice or her own sanity her body stiffened and the small blond hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Something wasn't right in her room. Looking around the room, she quickly saw what it was.

Jake was propped up against her alcove sleeping. Over the last couple of weeks, after his emotional breakdown the two had become very close and often times she had caught him sneaking into her room. Resisting the urge to show emotion and smile at his antics, she leaned down and easily scooped him up. Supporting his head on her shoulder she started to take him to his room.

Opening the door to his bedroom, she nearly rolled her eyes at how messy and unorganized it was. Ignoring the clothes on the floor and the toys and books everywhere, she gently laid him down on his bed. As she turned to leave, he suddenly spoke.

"Seven are you ready for today?" he asked groggily as he sat up and looked at her.

"Explain?" she merely asked as she turned back around.

"Dad is taking us to go fishing today, remember?"

"Yes... I do." she replied, not really looking forward to that particular activity. In fact she had filed it away in her memory as unimportant. "I've already replicated my... fishing gear."

"Have you picked out some fishing clothes yet?"

"What is wrong with my attire?" she asked as they both looked down at her silver bio-suit.

"You aren't actually thinking about wearing that to go fishing are you?" he asked excitedly, not wanting to miss the opportunity to rib her. Seeing that she was dead serious, he grumbled. "Fine, I'll help you pick out something to wear."

"Before you attempt to... pick something else for me we must attend to another activity first."

"What activity?"

"The one of cleaning your room." she said, looking around. "It is highly unorganized and were I not a Borg drone I probably would have fallen to the floor as I walked in here with you."

As she said that he put a strange smile on his face. Pondering about it she concluded that since he talked about his mother so much, that this must have been some sort of ritual the two must have shared.

"You sound almost like my mom." he said his voice choking a little as he got off the bed.

Sensing his apparent discomfort, because of her many lectures by Benjamin Sisko about social graces, she was about to say something further, when Jake started to pick up his clothing.

Seeing that she didn't offend the first friend she had made, she bent down and joined him in his task.

Hopedale, Louisiana

Later That Day

Seven wore a long sleeved white shirt and old archaic beige cargo pants, as she sat on the riverbank of the Mississipi river, fishing with the Sisko's. It was already enough having to live amongst humans, but now she felt as if it were too much to have to dress like them now.

Hearing the other two laugh at the small fish Jake had caught she had to admit a part of her wished that she could join in on their feelings. Hearing her reel casting out, she looked up and saw that her rod was bending in it's ground holder.

"Seven grab your, rod!" Ben yelled as he stood to his feet.

Sensing the urgency in his voice she stood to her feet and grabbed the rod as she was instructed. Not knowing what to do, she just watched as the line started to go further and further out.

"All right now start to reel it in." Ben instructed as he got behind her and put her hand on the crank handle. Even though she didn't feel all the way comfortable with him being so close to her, she still instinctively leaned into his embrace.

Sensing that whatever she had on the line, had to be big, she used a little Borg strength and helped to pull on the line. After a few seconds or struggling, the fish's head started to break the surface. After one final jerk, the fish came up out of the water and her and Ben pulled it up the riverbank and on shore.

"Whoa that fish is huge!" Jake yelled as he saw the big catfish.

"It must be two feet long." Ben said with a smile as he looked to Seven. "That's a heck of a catch for your first time fishing."

"We are Borg, we strive for perfection." she replied smugly as she stared down at the huge fish struggling on the ground.

Something about the sight un-nerved her as she watched it struggle for... freedom. Picking the fish up, she took the hook out of the fish's mouth and tossed it back into the mighty Mississippi.

"What did you do that for, Seven?" Jake asked, almost angrily. "That fish could have fed all of us."

"Jake, go and gather our equipment." Ben said before Seven could answer.

"But dad..."

"Now Jake!" Ben barked. Grumbling, Jake did as he was instructed.

"What was the real point of this activity?" Seven asked as she looked at Jake and then to Ben.

"There was no point other then a family getting to know each other." Ben stated as he bent down and picked up her fishing reel. "Why did you throw the fish back?"

"Because... because it was struggling so much to be free." she answered honestly. "Was that the point of this lesson? To see how I would react to something being held against it's will?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ben told her with a smile. "But I am glad you learned something. Everything in nature will struggle to be free."

"There is no struggle. I want to be a Borg."

"Somehow, I doubt that." he said putting a finger under her chin to make her look up at him. "And I won't give up on you until you prove me otherwise."

"What you believe is irrelevant." she said pulling away from his touch. "I will rejoin the Borg at my earliest convenience."

"But what about what Jake believes?" Ben asked, making her go stiff. "He thinks the world of you and I haven't seen him smile like that since his mother died."

Not saying a word to that she walked off and helped Jake gather up their gear. With a grin, Ben walked over with them with the knowledge that he was getting through to her.

Later That Day

New Orleans

Sisko's Creole Kitchen

"And you said the fish was how big?" Joseph asked as Ben, Jake, and Seven walked into his restuarant.

"At least two feet long." Ben replied.

Not asking why Seven threw it back, Joseph just looked at her for a few seconds.

"Why don't you two go outside and find a table, I'll bring you out some food later." he asked of Ben and Jake. "Seven, come with me into the kitchen." And with that they went their separate ways.

"Seven if you're going to be a Sisko, then you need to know how to cook." Joseph started as he cut on his stove.

"I don't see the need for cooking." Seven said as he took out a huge pot and some seasoning. "We have rep..."

"Replicators?" Joseph asked. "Seven I'll admit that the world is filled with beautiful things because of technology, but you have to remember that everything has it's roots. Which is why I started this restuarant, so people could remember where they came from."

He stopped for a second, trying to let it all sink in.

"Now imagine this. What if there was a worldwide blackout and replicators stopped working. How would we be able to eat then?"

"By cooking our own food." she replied, following his logic.

"Exactly. Now I don't know about you but when I cook my food I want it properly seasoned." he said as he put his hands around her shoulders and pushed her towards the stove. "Now pick up that cajun seasoning and..."

* * *

"Dad this is the best shrimp gumbo, I've ever tasted." Ben said as Jake and a few people around him, mumbled their agreement. "What did you put in this?"

"I'm afraid I can't take the credit." Joseph replied with a wide smile as he put his hands on Seven's shoulders. "You'll have to ask our secret chef over here."

"Seven you cooked this?" Jake asked.

Before she could answer, they heard someone's chair scuff on the floor and the sound of them spitting out their food.

"What!" the man who had spit out his food said, as he stood to his feet. "You mean to tell me that thing cooked our meal?"

"Don't you ever call my granddaughter a thing!" Joseph snarled back at the man, before he turned to address everyone at his restaurant. "Now you all listen up there are two things I won't tolerate at my establishment. That's people bad mouthing my food and prejudice people. If that's what you're about then get the hell out of my restaurant."

"I don't want her... her nanoprobes swimming around in my food." the man, a young Starfleet Ensign further insulted.

That was it. Ben had heard enough.

"Now you listen to me... Ensign." Ben said looking down at the pip on the officers collar. "I am Commander Benjamin Sisko and she is my daughter Seven Sisko. I know a lot of you lost a lot of good people during the battle of Wolf 359. I know this because I was there and I lost..."

Not being able to bring himself to say her name, he blew out a breath before going on.

"Seven lost her parents to the Borg and was robbed of her childhood. She was made to do the things she did and cannot be held responsible for her actions."

"And if you... or any of you for that matter have a problem with that then get out of my restaurant and never come back." Joseph added as he looked in the eyes of everyone there.

Looking away ashamed at his behavior, he sat down and the others looked away from the spectacle and continued eating. Seeing that Seven threw off her apron and walked, albeit swiftly, back into the restaurant, Ben followed her.

"Seven..."

"I am." she said cutting him off as she turned around to look at him. Seeing the confused look on his face she amended. "On Stardate 44012.3 you told Commander Maddox that I was yours. I am... I... I'm a part of your collective."

Giving the girl a friendly smile, he had to admit to himself that although she seemed sincere he doubted what she was saying. Something about it didn't seem right and was drastically too soon, especially considering her declaration earlier that she would rejoin the Borg. Letting out a sigh, he heard his father's words in his head. 'She needs you to trust her so she can start trusting you.'

"Seven Sisko, that has a nice ring to it don't you think?" he asked with a chuckle as he laid an arm on her shoulder, as he led her to the door. "Now let's get something to eat and get out of here."

Starfleet Command

The Next Day

"So am I to assume you heard the rumor." Admiral Paris was saying as his old friend sat beside him on a couch.

"You mean about the Borg drone in New Orleans?" Admiral Ross asked as he accepted the glass of Tholian nectar wine from his friend. "Yes, I heard about that."

"What are we going to do about this, Bill?" Paris asked. "Over eleven thousand people died during the Borg attack. If people start getting un-nerved about her being on Earth we might have a riot on our hands in the future."

"Don't worry about that, Owen I have a plan." Ross said as he stood to his feet taking a sip of wine. "I'll give Ben new order's to leave Earth and go to the Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards on Mars."

"How do you know he'll go there instead of leaving Starfleet all together?"

"Because Ben was a promising engineer before he was promoted to commander." Ross said thinking for a moment. "From what I've heard that drone... Seven feels remorseful for her part in killing all of those people. My plan is to have both of them go there to design ships to be used as replacements for all the one's that were destroyed at Wolf 359. But this time they will have anti-borg technology installed in them. The way I see it, that'll kill two birds with one stone. We get that thing off of Earth and our newest ships will be designed to fight her kind off."

"That's a hell of a plan. Do you think they'll go for it?"

"For our sake's I hope so." he said thinking about all those people who had lost their lives. "If and when they decide to do it I'm going to send someone with them that'll give us updates on what's going on and to make sure she doesn't snap and try to kill off our people or turn them into those damn cyborgs. Lord knows we don't need another Locutus out there."

"Oh and who were you thinking about sending?" Owen asked, downing all of his drink in one gulp. He winced as the sting of alcohol burned his throat for a second.

"Don't worry about that, I know a guy who owes me a favor." Ross said thinking of a certain Lt. Commander. "I'll call him and Ben in another week or so and tell them they've been reassigned."


	6. Even Through the Darkest Days

A/N Again thanks for all of those reviews, like I said they help me get these chapters out faster.

Chapter 4.5

Even Through The Darkest Days

Babylon, Long Island NY

Gilgo Beach

Seven closed her eyes and listened to the seagulls crowing in the distance and the gentle waves as they crashed against the shore. She had to admit that Ben was right, this place was peaceful.

It still amazed her how these pe... her people, humans, could go through such a range of emotions but still find enough time to find beauty in the world.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ben asked from behind her. Turning she saw Jake, Joseph, and Ben all carrying multi-colored drinks.

"I am... not having a bad time." she stated as Joseph handed her a Jabolian iced tea.

"You should learn how to relax, Seven." Joseph told her with concerned eyes. "Life is too short and precious to be so stiff. I mean look at you. You look like you're ready to jump on the next person that walks by. Relax your shoulders a little bit... slouch. If you were standing any straighter you'd be a pencil."

"What is a pencil?" she asked, confused.

"Dad, isn't that Jonathan over there by that tiki bar?" Ben asked, interrupting their friendly banter.

"That does look like your brother." Joseph replied as he looked from Seven to where Ben was pointing. "Seven, why don't you take your brother out swimming?We'll be right back."

"Yeah, Come on Seven!" Jake yelled excitedly as he grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the ocean.

"Make sure to keep a close eye on him!" Ben shouted out. "Those two are really getting close." he commented loosely as he and his father turned and headed towards the bar.

"That's because they need each other." his father informed him. "How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" Ben asked as he turned to look at him.

"I mean that this is the place where you first met your wife." Joseph replied putting a hand on his shoulder. "Son, how are you feeling?"

"I'm... I'm fine." he reassured as they continued their walk.

* * *

"Seven the water feels great." Jake said as he splashed around in the water. "Come in, it's going to be fun."

"Perhaps another time." Seven replied, content with watching him. Honestly she didn't want to tell him that she didn't know how to swim. It still amused her however that people naturally assumed that she knew how to do everything.

"Hey watch where you're going!" a female voice shouted as someone roughly bumped into Seven, making her spill her drink on her silver bathing suit.

Opening her eyes she saw a short woman, who clearly looked to be mixed with Klingon, standing next to a tall man with dark hair. With a raised eyebrow, Seven saw that the woman's nostrils were flared and she was seething with anger. Yes, she was definitely a Klingon.

"B'Elanna, relax." the man said with gentle eyes. "You were the one that bumped into her."

"So you're going to take her side!" B'Elanna replied hotly. "I can't believe this, Max. You always do this."

"We're sorry." Max apologized to Seven as he pulled B'Elanna away with him. The two were still arguing as they walked away.

Putting her drink down on the sand, she used the wrap that was around her waist to wipe off the beverage on her chest. With a sigh she threw the wrap on the ground and looked out into the ocean. Doing a double take, she looked out to the sea again and didn't see Jake.

"Jake!" she yelled out as she looked around the beach for him. Heart thundering at not seeing him, she quickly ran to the water. "Jake!"

Finally seeing a shape sink down into the water, she was a blur of action. Running as fast as her legs could carry her she dove into the water and started looking around. Seeing Jake unconscious and slowly sinking further into the deep, she kicked her legs and grabbed him.

Using her Borg strength, she kicked up and her head broke the surface of the water. Exhaling loudly, she looked over and saw that Jake wasn't breathing. Moving frantically, she carried him out onto the beach and laid him gently down on the ground.

Seeing that a crowd of people had started to gather around them, she barked at them to get back before turning back to the boy. Her mind suddenly realizing what she needed to do, she nervously placed her hands over his chest. Steadying her shaking hands she started to administer CPR.

"Jake, please wake up!" she shouted as the boy laid still.

Giving him mouth to mouth, she again placed her hands over his chest. Giving it a few more pumps, she cried out as water gushed out of his mouth and his eyes popped open.

"Jake you're alright." she said as she pulled him to her chest in a hug.

"Seven what ha..." those words died on his lips as he seemed to have frozen in place.

Blinking through her tears, she looked around and saw that everyone on the beach seemed frozen in time. Hearing a shuffling sound, she raised her hand to block the sun out of her eyes as she looked further down the beach and saw three hooded figures walking towards her.

Laying Jake gently down on the sand, she stood to her feet even as the figure in the red hood approached her first.

"Who are you?" she asked as the man threw off his hood. He was a bald black man with a goatee and was nearly as tall as she was. But there was something about his eyes Something that just seemed so familiar.

"I'll tell you later." he replied as he pulled out a phaser and shot her. As she hit the ground unconscious, he crouched down over her and stroked a single strand of blond hair behind her ear thoughtfully.

"Data, O'Brien pick her up." he said before looking down at Seven and smiling. As the other two did as he requested, he tapped at his combadge. "Defiant, four to beam up."

* * *

Seven's head stung as she tried to push her mind back to the realms of consciousness. Hearing the hum and beeps of consoles she knew she was on some kind of ship.

'Has Bruce Maddox come back for me?' she thought to herself. She never told Ben or the others, but that was a silent fear that she had, that Maddox would fulfill his promise and come back for her.

Finally reaching the realm of consciousness, she groggily opened her eyes and stared up at a ceiling, thankful that the lights were shut off.

"You're even more beautiful then I remembered." a voice spoke out to her.

Looking to the right of herself, she saw the same man from before sitting in a chair watching her. As she was about to sit up, it was at that moment she noticed that she was strapped down to a table.

"Who are you?" Seven asked, emphasizing each word. "And what have you done with Jake?"

"Like I said you'll know who I am later." the man replied, a smile evident in his voice. "As for Jake, believe me he's fine."

Suddenly a door slid open and another figure walked into the room. It was still too dark for her to see a face but she caught a glimpse of its glowing yellow eyes.

"Sir we only have another fifteen minutes." the man informed his comrade. Seven couldn't tell what it was but there seemed to be something almost mechanical about his voice.

"Thank you. Hopefully this won't take that long." he replied as yellow eyes walked out of the room. "You heard my friend. We don't have a lot of time so we have to get down to business."

"Where are we?"

"We're orbiting Earth in a Borg modified runabout named the USS Defiant."

"So you're in some kind of alliance with the Borg?" Seven asked as she stopped struggling with her bonds. "It will not last. The Borg will assimilate..."

"It's not like that at all, Seven." Red cloak informed her. "You were the one who designed this ship. We're from the future."

"And in this future you know me?" Seven asked as her head started to throb again.

"I more then know you." the man said as he stood to his feet and called for the lights to go to full illumination. "I'm your brother."

"Jake?" Seven asked as he threw his cloak back. He looked so much like their father. "What is going on?"

"I'm here to prevent a dark future, and hopefully you can help me with that." Future Jake replied as he took off her bonds. "I'm sorry that I had to stun you, but it made doing the surgery on you easier."

"Sur..."

"It's all right Seven." Jake assured. "My friends only removed your Borg emotion fail-safe. It's going to take a few minutes but you'll be able to see straight then. And I was serious that I'm... me... the other Jake. Damn I really hate temporal mechanics."

"Jake what's going on?" Seven asked as she stood up and placed her hands softly around his ears. "What is this dark future that you're talking about?"

"We don't have the details of everything but sometime in your future the Borg found a way to infiltrate fluidic space." he started as he picked up a padd. "When they got there they tried to assimilate an alien race called the Undine, but the Borg called them species 8472."

"How did you get possession of that information?" Seven asked as she stared down at the massive alien that filled the screen.

"Because there was a starship called Voyager that got displaced in the Delta Quadrant before these events took place." Jake went on as he took the padd back. "It took several years but they found a way to contact Starfleet and sometime around stardate 52136.4 they stopped transmitting to us. But before they were destroyed they told us all they knew of the this species."

"How does that tie into a dark future for us?"

"It took some time but the Undine wiped out the Borg completely with little effort." Jake told her, only for her to look at him in disbelief. "This race is completely xenophobic and they started to destroy the entire Delta Quadrant. When they found out about the Federation ship that was spying on them they learned all they could about Earth from her before destroying it. Some time after that they moved on to the Beta Quadrant and started to destroy everything."

As he told the story his hands started to shake uncontrollably. Just like when he was a boy and he would get scared she grabbed his hand to still them. Feeling the warmth of her touch after so many years, he met her eyes and it gave him the strength to go on with his story.

"We started getting reports of what was going on from the Klingons, who had managed to kill one of the aliens and they brought it to us. It took some time and alot of experimentation but Starfleet finally dropped their prejudice of you and let you take a look at the alien. It only took a few days for you to come up with a solution."

As he said that he pulled up another file and she saw a picture of a torpedo.

"You came up with modified nanoprobe-warheads that attacked the Undine's unique biological makeup and killed some of them." Jake informed her. "They retreated back to fluidic space and we haven't seen them since. That's not before they destroyed Earth and left the Alpha Quadrant in ruins."

"Joseph... Ben?"

"They're all gone Seven." Jake told her with tears in his eyes. "Everybody we knew and loved is gone." 'Even you.' he thought to himself. The last bio-ship that had attacked the USS Ares had launched a final assault and had destroyed the ship with his father and sister on it. It had taken him some years and some favors but he had gotten a ragtag group of ex Starfleet officers and they had invented a way to go back in time and stop that from happening. "There's only a handful of Alpha Quadrant people left and we're slowly rebuilding our lives. What's left of us had to resettle on Bajor."

"Why did you come back to this time... to this place?" Seven asked, snapping him out of his musings. "Why not go to Starfleet?"

"I came back to this day and time for two different reasons." he said as he wiped at his eyes. "I came here because soon we're going to leave with our dad to go to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Starfleet wants you to help them design ships to fight against the Borg, but now you can help make them more aggressive to fight against the Undine. The other reason is... well, I knew for a fact that you loved me because you risked your life to save me today."

As he told her that her cheeks went a bright red and she ducked away from his gaze.

"I never forgot what you did for me sis and I wanted to return the favor." he went on with a smile. "That's why I didn't tell Starfleet of this time because they probably would have went into a panic and did something to you when they found out that the Borg were responsible for the Undine attacking all of us. I already had to live without you once in my life and I won't do that again."

"What will you have me to do?" she asked suddenly determined to not let that future happen.

"We only have a few more minutes before we have to leave." Data said over the com-channel.

"Understood." Jake said as he hit his combadge before turning to his sister. "Seven I need you, my dad, and the Ares to somehow replace that ship that got lost in the Delta Quadrant or I need you to transfer to Voyager before the stardate 48038.5. Data told me that us being here might contaminate this timeline too much so we've embedded instructions in a data node in your brain. All that we need you to do and on what stardates we need you to do them on will seem like an original idea that you had and on impulse you'll act on it. When we beam you back down to Earth and you wake up, everything I've told you will seem like some sort of weird dream."

"I understand." Seven said as she touched her brother's cheek lovingly. "Goodbye Jake."

"Goodbye Seven." Jake told her as he stood up and kissed her on the forehead. Picking up an instrument from a nearby table, he slowly jabbed it into her neck making her pass out.

"Seven... Seven." she heard someone distantly calling her name. Forcing her mind to start, she groggily opened her eyes and saw Ben and Joseph standing over her. "Seven are you all right?"

"What has happened?" she simply asked as the two men helped her to her feet. Looking around she saw a large crowd of people watching her in awe.

"Some of these people told us that Jake was drowning and you rescued him before you passed out." Joseph replied as he took one of her hands in his. "You're a hero Seven."

Before she could say anything a mocha whirlwind suddenly latched onto her long legs. Looking down she saw Jake hugging her legs and talking uncontrollably fast. If she wasn't part Borg, she wouldn't have been able to understand him as he apologized to her.

"I am undamaged Jake." she told her brother with a smile. "Next time do not run off alone."

"I... I'll never leave you again." Jake promised.

As the two started talking, Ben took it all in with a smile. Somehow he knew that today would be the dawning of something new.

"Come on you two." Ben suddenly spoke up. "Let's go make sure you're both all right and then we can go home."

Sometime in the future

A pink and white shaded rift in spacetime opened and the USS Defiant came rushing out of it. As Chief O'Brien, Data, and Jake looked through the main viewer the latter almost openly wept as they saw Earth.

"Chief...?" Jake stated as he got himself together.

"I'm reading 9.6 billion life signs on Earth and I'm picking up lifesigns on Mars and on the Luna colonies." Molly O'Brien informed him as she turned around to look at him, unshed tears in her eyes. "We're home sir."

"Mr. Data is New Orleans still there?" Jake asked, anxiously holding the back of the android's seat.

"Yes sir." Data replied tapping into his console. "It has a population of..."

"Thank you, Mr. Data." Jake interrupted. "Beam me down to these coordinates."

* * *

As Jake walked towards his grandfather's restaurant. The place looked exactly as it did so many years ago when he was a little boy. He looked around apprehensively and sighed as he didn't see anyone.

'All that work and sacrifice it took to get here.' he thought to himself as he sat down in one of the chairs on the patio and placed his face into the palms of his hand. 'All that I did and the people I love aren't even here.'

Suddenly a pair of warm hands touched his shoulders making him jump.

"Jake?" a voice asked. It was her voice.

"Seven?" Jake asked back as he turned around to look at her. He was shocked at what he saw because she didn't have any Borg implants on her face or body, her hair was down and she was wearing a dress. "Seven you're here?"

"Where else would I be silly?" she asked. "Grandpa left me this place, remember?"

"You own..."

"Now where have you been?" she interrupted. "Dad told me you took the Defiant from the Fleet yards and you've been gone for two days. It took alot of effort to make that ship so you better not have damaged it." as she said that she crossed her arms over her chest and Jake saw a ring on her finger.

"Seven... you're married?" he asked as he took her hand. "To who?"

"To me." Chakotay told him as he walked up behind her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You should remember that Jake. You were my best man after all."

"This is incredible!" Jake yelled excitedly as he sat down, thinking things through. Seven had done it, somehow.

Chakotay and Seven then just looked at one another in confusion.

"You don't look so good Jake." Chakotay started. "Maybe you should come with me and lay down. Seven can bring you something to eat."

"I'm fine Chakotay." Jake replied with a wide smile. 'And I'll never leave you again.' he thought to himself as he looked at his older sister.


	7. Chapter 5 To The Shipyards

A/N As a thank you for all of your follows and reviews I decided to upload two chapters. Please review both and let me know how you think the story is progressing.

Chapter 5

To The Shipyards

Ben let out a heavy sigh as he turned off his computer terminal. He had just got done talking to Admiral Ross and he had reassigned him to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. He had to admit that the inner engineer in him loved the prospect of going there and designing new ships, which is why he accepted the job, but he didn't know how Jake and Seven would take it.

Speaking of Seven, it seemed odd to him that Ross insisted that she come with him as well. It wasn't like he was going to leave her on Earth anyway, especially after what had happened at his father's restaurant. But for her to be specifically asked... He didn't have a bad feeling about Ross's intentions but rather.. just found it odd. At least the man told him that he would meet him there to explain in detail what he wanted her there for.

Getting up he took a sonic shower, got dressed and went into the kitchen to get breakfast started. As if on cue, Seven walked into the room at the same exact time she always did and Jake came stumbling behind her a moment longer only being drawn by the smell of breakfast.

It had taken some time but he had finally convinced her to start wearing more modest clothing. She wore an all black turtleneck shirt and black slacks. They still clung to her body somewhat, but it still wasn't as form fitting as the bio-suits she used to wear. He was eternally grateful for that at least.

Waiting until he put the plates of waffles, eggs, and bacon in front of them, he sat down himself before he started to speak to them.

"This morning I was given new orders by Starfleet command." he spoke as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Were you... were you assigned to a new ship?" Jake asked in the middle of pouring syrup on his waffles. Part of him wanted to get off of earth and be on another starship but after what happened to his mother...

"No." Ben said breaking his train of thought. "I've been assigned to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars. Admiral Ross wants me to help design the new generation of starships. He also made a special request for you to come too, Seven."

"Why?" Seven asked with merely a raised eyebrow.

"He didn't say why, but I didn't sense any ill intent from him wanting me to bring you." he said, taking another sip of coffee. "It's not like I would ever leave you behind anyway."

As he said that she felt something surge through her heart. It would take her time to figure it out but it was a strange sense of pride.

"Now eat up. We have a long day ahead of us with packing. We leave first thing in the morning."

The Next Day

Sisko's Creole Kitchen

"Goodbye Grandpa." Jake said giving the older man a hug.

"Goodbye, Jake." Joseph said hugging him back. "I want to hear from you at least two times a week."

"Okay." he said happily as he walked out of the door to where his father was waiting.

"Seven, wait." Joseph said as she too was about to walk out of the door. "I have something to give you."

Going back into the kitchen he took an old small mahogany box off a shelf in the cupboard. Blowing some dust off the top of it, he handed it over to her. Opening it, she saw that it was an old spatula. With a raised eyebrow she looked up at him.

"That spatula has been in my family for over 140 years." Joseph explained. "We come from a long line of chefs you see. I was going to pass it down to Ben when he was younger but he chose Starfleet over being a chef."

"But Joseph, I have no intention of being a chef." Seven told him honestly, only for the older man to smile at her and place a small collection of spices in her hands.

"After the food you've been making recently, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You're a natural in the kitchen, Seven." he told her as he put a hand on her shoulder and ushered her towards the door."You might even inherit this place one day."

"Goodbye, Grandpa." Seven whispered into his ear as she turned around and gave him a quick hug.

Caught off guard, Joseph barely had enough time to hug her back, as she was out of the door. Smiling to himself, he took a towel and draped it over his shoulder. He knew that she didn't want to get caught up in emotion and that explained why she had called him Grandpa, which she had never done before and her quick departure. No matter what she said, he was going to make a chef out of her yet and a new line of Sisko's were going to keep this place going after he was gone. Smiling even harder at that thought, he took out some pots and pans, ready to get the day started.

Earth to Mars Transport Shuttle

Two Hours Later

The transport was unusually cramped as it was headed to Mars. Putting a smile on his face, Ben turned and looked at a beautiful sight that he would never get tired of seeing.

"Seven look at this." he said as she turned around and glanced in the direction he was looking.

"It's only, Earth." she said, not sharing a hint of his enthusiasm. "I've seen it several times."

"Yes it's Earth." he replied, not losing his smile. "You should always remember one thing. You'll see thousands of worlds in your lifetime, but you'll never see a planet as beautiful as this one, because it's home."

Looking a second longer but still just taking his word for it, the three of them sat in silence as they waited to dock with the Mars station. As they got their luggage and made their way off of the transport, they saw Admiral Ross standing in the docking ring with two other men.

One of the men was wearing the pips of an Ensign and had light brown hair. He seemed to be in his early to mid twenties but Ben couldn't tell. The other man was slightly older then him and had a strange tribal tattoo on his face. And looking at his collar, they saw that he had the pips of a Lt. Commander.

"Ben it's good to see you and in uniform again." Admiral Ross said as the two shook hands.

"Admiral, always a pleasure." he replied as he looked around at the two men behind him.

"Oh, umm these two gentlemen are Ensign Tom Paris and Lt. Commander Chakotay."

"Commander." Tom and Chakotay said at almost the same time as each of them took turns shaking his hand.

"This is my son Jake and my daughter Seven." Ben informed them, emphasizing daughter as he caught Tom giving her a look. "May I ask why you two are here?"

"I can explain that Ben and I can tell you why I personally requested you to come here... Seven." Ross spoke up. "During the battle of Wolf 359 over 11,000 Starfleet officers and civilians died because of the Borg attack. Over thirty nine ships were lost because of a single Borg cube. I shudder to think what would happen if they sent an entire fleet of ships here. That's why I wanted you two to start designing ships for us."

"With anti-Borg technology, I'll assume?" Seven asked.

"Yes. I'd hate to try to make you answer for the crimes of your people but..."

"I'm with my... people now." she interrupted again.

"Oh... umm, of course." Ross replied, not expecting that. "Nevertheless, I talked it over with Starfleet command and if you agree to join us and help design some newer ships we would like to offer you the position of being an official adviser to the Borg and become a full fledged Ensign in Starfleet. I pulled some strings and all you would have to do is pass a very brief course in astrophysics and take an advanced shuttle pod course, both of which would be administered by, Mr. Paris."

Ross himself had wanted her to go through official Starfleet training at the Academy on Earth, but due to the progress results by Ben and from what the egg heads at command had said he'd changed his mind. They had secretly put a mind tapping device on her regeneration alcove, without Ben knowing and had found that the knowledge she possessed far exceeded that of many in Starfleet, except Lt. Commander Data and a few choice others. That made command go along with the decision to have her forego the need to be in Starfleet academy, plus it gave the added bonus of her not having to be on Earth.

"And what may I ask is Lt. Commander Chakotay's function?" Seven asked, eyeing the other man, of whom smiled back at her. There was something about the man's gaze that caught her eye and she had to admit that she liked it.

"He's here to... administer a sort of ongoing aptitude test, to make sure you walk, talk, and adhere to Starfleet rules and regulations." Ross replied with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 'And to watch you.' he silently added. "I'll let you all get settled in for now and I will await your decision, Seven. If and when you do agree, your lessons with Mr. Paris will start soon after."

And with that, Ross nodded his head and walked away. With a mischievous grin on his face, Tom walked over to Seven with his hand extended.

"It's really going to be nice working with you." he said as he shook her hand. "My name is Tom Paris by the way."

Suddenly Ben just so happened to clear his throat at that exact same moment, before Seven could say anything. "Trust and believe that me and my **sixteen** year old daughter remembered your name, Mr. Paris."

"Oh, I didn't know she was only..."

"Come on, Tom." Chakotay intervened, trying to hide the amusement in his voice, as he put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We should get to our respective quarters and get settled in ourselves. Commander, Jake, Seven." he said in turn as he looked at each of them, Seven a moment longer then he should have, as they turned and walked away.

"Humph!" Ben said low in his throat as he watched their retreating forms. "Come on you two, let's go to our quarters and then get something to eat." Ben said as a thought occurred to him. "Seven I need to talk to you about flyboys."


	8. Chapter 6 Relics

A/N If you skipped a chapter and came to this one go back and read the chapter To the Shipyards to find out what's going on here. And if you don't mind review both chapters.

Chapter 6

Relic

"You're doing pretty good." Tom complemented as he gave control of the shuttle pod over to Seven of Nine. "The way you're piloting it, it's like theres not much of a challenge."

"When I was a pure Borg drone I was in charge of trying to conquer this region of space." Seven told him as her fingers danced across the controls. "One would hardly find it challenging to pilot something as simple as a shuttle pod."

"I guess you have a point." Tom admitted, as he sat there in silence for a moment. "So you not being a Borg drone... how is that treating you?"

Giving him a look, she arched an eyebrow at him before turning back to her console. "Mr. Paris, are you attempting to engage me in small talk? If so you should be made aware that my fa... Ben told me all about flyboys."

"Oh?" Tom asked suddenly perking up at that. "And what did he say?"

"He said that they were... arrogant and boastful." Seven started as she looked back to him. "And no matter how handsome they may be, while they're young they'll never take you as seriously as you take them."

"Well that's not fair." Tom feigned having his feelings hurt. "That describes most men."

"He told me you would say that as well." she said with a grin.

"And... and what else did he tell you that I would say?"

"He told me that you would try to set up a situation, so in the future you would have an excuse to engage me in some form of activity." she replied, summarizing what Ben had told her. "Is that a fair assumption, Mr. Paris?"

"Hey, a couple of drinks at Sandrine's in a couple of years wasn't going to hurt anybody." he replied, caught. As he was about to say something further, Seven's console started to beep. "Oh now what did you do?"

"Nothing." Seven replied as she looked at the readings on her console. "The proximity alert has been activated."

"You're right." he confirmed as he looked at the readout himself. "It's a vessel, approximately 225 meters in size and it's right behind us."

"Why haven't the fleet yards detected it yet?"

"Because it's adrift... and if these readings are right it's been that way for over two hundred years." as he said that he put the ship on the main viewer. Seeing the ship, his mouth dropped open because he immediately knew what class it was. "That... that ship is pre-federation. It's an old NX ship."

"It's been severely damaged but it's still mostly intact." Seven told him as she began to type into her console. "However I'm not picking up any trace of it's name or registry."

"You wouldn't." Tom told her, his eyes seemingly glazed over with un-shed tears. "I'm going to contact the fleet yards so they can tractor her in."

"Why?" Seven questioned. "This is merely... space junk."

"Space junk!? Space junk!?" Tom asked, anger evident in his voice. "Don't you know what you're looking at? Don't you know what kind of history might be left on that ship?"

"All of which seems irrelevant to me." Seven replied coolly.

"Well missy, guess whose getting a bad grade in their history class?" he replied, making light of the conversation. "Hey what are you doing?" he asked as he saw a tractor beam attach itself to the hull of the other ship.

"As you were speaking, I modified a tractor beam to tow the ship with us."

"What? That's... that's impossible." Tom told her. "This ship..."

"Has more then enough power to handle this task, relative to the distance we have to travel." she informed him as the bigger ship indeed started to move. "But that is an engineering problem, perhaps you got bad grades in that."

"Seven I think I like you already." Tom told her with a chuckle.

Utopia Planitia

"Shako... shako..."

"Chakotay." Chakotay properly pronounced for Jake as he bumped into him. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I got bored and I tried to find Seven."

"Your sister?" Chakotay asked with a smile. "I'm sorry little guy but she's out with Mr. Paris learning how to fly. What about your father, doesn't he have time to play with you?"

"No... he's been busy all day working on some ships." Jake said with a sigh, as he threw his baseball up into the air.

Feeling sorry for the boy and realizing that he knew exactly how the boy felt himself, he let out a sigh too. "I tell you what Jake, meet me in holodeck three in ten minutes and we'll play a game of baseball."

"Really?" Jake asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes really." Chakotay replied, sharing his smile. "Just take it easy on me. I'm an old man you know."

Watching as the boy ran off, Chakotay chuckled before seeing Ben walking into a building. Getting business like, he walked into the building and pushed the door chime. Hearing a muffled "come" the door swished open and he walked in.

"Commander, can I have a word with you?" Chakotay asked as he walked into the Master Design room.

"Yes of course." Ben said as he stopped looking at several diagrams and looked up at him. "And please call me, Ben."

"All right... Ben. I usually try to avoid conflict but I feel a need to be perfectly blunt." Chakotay started as he let out a quick sigh. "How much do you trust Seven of Nine?"

"So I see you're ready to drop this little charade?" Ben asked as his eyes narrowed. Seeing the confused look on the other man's face, he went on. "I know that Starfleet sent you here to spy on Seven and send them progress reports on her."

"How do you figure..."

"Enough of this, Mr. Chakotay!" Ben snapped as he slapped at his desk. "How stupid do I look to you? If Starfleet really wanted Seven to be trained as a Starfleet officer, I could have done that job. There is no other reason for you to be here other than to be a spy."

"Admiral Ross was right about you." Chakotay replied, clearly impressed. "He said that you'd be one of the most cleverest men I'd ever meet."

As the two men stared at each other it was Ben who broke first and his features softened.

"All I'm asking is that you take some time and get to know Seven before purely judging her on what the Borg has done." Ben said as he saw that Chakotay too had relaxed. "As for how much I trust her... I trust her enough to leave her alone with the last thing my wife left me."

"Which is?"

"My son." Ben informed him. "And no less then a week ago she saved him from drowning."

"I... I see." Chakotay replied, taken aback as he stood to his feet. "I'll take your words under consideration and I promise not to judge Seven on the deeds of her pe... the Borg."

As he walked to the door, something hit him and he felt the need to share it. It was something his father had told him a long time ago.

"There's a story I heard as a child, a parable... I never forgot it..." he spoke up as he struggled to bring the memory to the forefront of his mind. "A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river, wondering how to get to the other side... when suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said no... I'll get halfway there, and you'll sting me, and I'll drown. But the scorpion assured him... if I did that, we'd both drown. The fox thought about it and finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim... But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the fox. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said why did you do that? Now you'll drown, too." he stopped to let Ben think about that. "I couldn't help it, said the scorpion. It's my nature."

"I'll keep your little story in mind." Ben replied, less then impressed. "Oh and Mr. Chakotay, catch." Ben said as he tossed him a small black object.

Catching it with one hand, Chakotay looked down at it and frowned. It was a small circular disk that looked like it could interface with a computer.

"What is this?" Chakotay asked, confused.

"Tell Admiral Ross that if he wants to know what's on Seven of Nine's mind that he should ask her." Ben told him as the frown appeared back on his face. "Now get out of my office."

As the younger man walked out of the room, Ben's combadge suddenly beeped.

"Sir this is Valerie from orbital space dock." a woman's voice said from the other end.

"This is Ben, go ahead."

"Sir we just tracker-ed in a vessel." she informed him. "It's really something you should see."

* * *

"So you just found this ship floating derelict in space?" Ben asked of Seven and Tom as they stood in a corridor, awaiting a team to cut through the docking doors of the ship before they could enter.

"Yes and according to, Mr. Paris it's been floating around for over two hundred years." Seven added. "However I still can't comprehend why it has no name or registry."

"But I do." Tom said, nearly bouncing with delight to tell Ben the news. "Sir this is the ship with no name."

"That's impossible." Ben said upon thinking. "That ship was reported as being destroyed."

"When I was a little boy, I used to read about this ship all the time from my dad's private journals." Tom said beaming. "I always hoped that the ship was never destroyed and... and here we are today."

"Am I to be informed of the events to which you two are referring?" Seven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes.. yes of course." Ben started. "During the Earth-Romulan war Starfleet thought that it might have been fighting a losing battle. So they took an NX ship they were already working on and designed it for nothing but war. It was the first ship designed for such a thing and was considered classified, which is why it doesn't have a name or registry. After running some successful black ops campaigns against the Romulans, during the last days of the war an unknown ship was reported to have been destroyed with all hands lost. Many assumed it was this ship... but now."

Seven nearly smiled as she saw the look of pure joy on his face. It was the same look he had given her on the first day she had called herself, Seven Sisko. Not knowing why, but it made her happy too. As she thought that, the techs were finally able to unseal the door with their cutting torches. Seeing that they were having trouble, opening the docking door of the ship, Ben and Tom stepped forward to help.

That was until Seven stepped forward and with a show of Borg strength was able to open the door herself.

"After you, sir." Tom said as they both shared a look. 'I better not ever make her mad.' he thought to himself.

As the tech gave Ben the all clear that the ship didn't have any traces of harmful airborne bacteria or viruses, they all walked onto the ship. Going through the cargo bay and then through the corridors they saw dead bodies upon dead bodies on the floor. The last expressions on most of their faces being that of agony.

Ignoring the knot that was forming in his throat, Ben and the others pushed forward, the light from their wrist torches illuminating the way. Taking the long route around, the group finally made it to the doors of the Bridge. Taking a gulp of the stale air that was onboard, they opened up the doors.

Bracing themselves they walked onto the deck of the bridge and stared in awe at what they saw. The bridge crew were slumped over dead, still in their seats and still at their posts. Open space, from the large tear on the side of the ship that they had sealed, must have preserved their bodies because they hadn't decayed much at all. They had all died fighting for what they had believed in. Fighting for the future of mankind and the Federation.

"Ensign Donovan see if you can reach Starfleet command and tell them of our discovery." Sisko ordered of a short Scottish man who had walked past him, before looking over at Tom. "Tell them we solved the mystery of what happened to the NX ship with no name. Make sure to tell them that Seven and Tom found it."

"Aye sir." Donovan said as he disappeared off of the Bridge.

"Ensign Tucker see if you can get power to this ship." he said to a young dark haired woman. "When you do that try to find out what happened and see if you can find out the names of the people of this ship so we can contact their descendants and perform proper burial arrangements. After that download whatever they have in this ships database and bring it to my office."

"Aye sir." Tucker replied as she picked up her power converter and led a small team to Engineering.

"Seven may I have a word with you?" Sisko asked as Tom got the hint and walked off with the others to start collecting the bodies. "Tom told me that you felt it was irrelevant to tractor in this ship?"

"He was correct." Seven answered honestly. "I saw little point in bringing in an archaic, crudely made vessel."

"He also told me that you rigged the shuttle crafts tractor beam and you personally towed the ship here. Why?"

"I... I do not know." she answered.

"Then allow me to fill in the blanks." Ben told her as he let out a breath to gather his thoughts. "In order for mankind to move into the future we must first understand our past. It's so we won't make the mistakes they made and so we can learn and grow. That's the heart of what we are. That's why we go out and explore new worlds. So we can learn... so we can grow as a people."

"It was more efficient just to assimilate." Seven said as the crew around her stopped working and gave her a look. Ignoring the stares she kept her eyes on Ben, awaiting his reply. To her surprise he only chuckled.

"Ah but then dear Seven what would you personally experience?" he asked. "It's true the Borg exist as a single voice and a single mind but you never have your own personal experience. Something that's just yours. Look around and tell me what you see. What are you experiencing right now at this moment?"

"I see a group of dead humans on an archaic Earth vessel." she said as she looked around. "And I am experiencing nausea from inhaling the smell of all of these dead bodies."

"I..." stopping for a second Ben had to collect himself. He wasn't expecting that. "You know what I see when I look around? I see a group of Starfleet officers that died doing their duty. If it wasn't for them we probably wouldn't be here today. What I'm experiencing is... a bit of sadness and excitement. Aren't you the least bit curious as to what we'll find on this ship?"

"Perhaps." was all she said as she took another look around.

"Good, because if I get permission from Admiral Paris or Ross, I'm going to make this the ship we use to fight the Borg."

"Really?" Tom asked from the place he was eavesdropping. "After you're done redesigning the ship and getting it into working order you're going to need a good pilot."

"If Seven gets a good grade on her exam, I'll personally put in a recommendation." Sisko replied with a cheshire smile.

"You drive a hard bargain but you're on." Tom replied with a smile of his own.

"Welcome aboard then, Mr. Paris." Ben went on as the two shook hands. "If you can stay longer then what was requested of you, I'd love to have you stay and help me redesign this ship."

"I'd love too."

"So what do you think, Seven?" Ben asked, addressing his daughter. "Are you up for the challenge?"

"I'd hardly consider this a challenge." she said, not even bothering to look at the ship. "But, I'll do as you requested."

"Seven I don't... I want you to do this because you want to." Ben said as he turned his head and then looked back at her. "This isn't an order. I want you to try to find some excitement out of this."

"I can hardly contain myself."

Letting out a sigh, he just gave the girl a look. "Seven would you please go down to Engineering and help Ensign Tucker restore power?"

"As you wish." she replied as she turned on her heel and walked off the Bridge.

"Wow she's a barrel of fun isn't she?" Tom asked, as Seven was out of earshot.

"She's warming up to the idea." Ben told him loosely. "I can tell."

"How, by the twitch of her eyebrow?" he joked only to see that Ben wasn't laughing. "Sorry sir, I meant no offence."

"None taken." Ben said letting out a sigh. 'What am I going to do with that girl?' he thought to himself.

* * *

After a few hours of examining the ship Tom couldn't contain himself any longer as he walked inside his quarters and let out a loud yelp. Covering his mouth, he stood still for a moment hoping he didn't wake his neighbors. Not hearing any bangs on the wall for him to keep quiet, he put a smile on his face and sat down at the small desk that was in his room.

Seeing that he had an incoming message on his personal computer, his smile died as he saw his father's face appear onscreen.

"Hi dad. How's it going?" he asked, hoping the older man was in a good mood. "Guess what happened today?"

"I already know." Owen stopped him. "Benjamin already told me and we've given him permission to restore the ship."

"Aren't you excited?" he asked. "And guess what, he told me that once he's done restoring the ship that I could come onboard as his helmsman."

"Absolutely not!" Owen growled out, crushing his son's dream. "You're due to be on the USS Exeter in another couple of days. Now finish up with that damn Borg drone and report for duty."

"But dad..."

"No buts boy. And for heaven's sake don't embarrass yourself or the family name when you report to the Exeter. I pulled a lot of strings to get you there and I will not be made to look like a fool. Paris out." he said as the screen filled with the Starfleet insignia.

"Damnit!" Tom swore, slapping the table. Every time he had a dream to do something it was always slapped down by his father. Just once he wanted to feel loved. Counting this opportunity as a loss, he brought up Seven's exam papers and without even looking at it, gave her a passing grade.

* * *

As Seven went to her room to regenerate, she again saw Jake on the floor sleeping up against her alcove holding a baseball. Seeing that this might be some sort of family tradition, she didn't say anything as she picked him up and carried him towards his room.

"Mom, I had fun with Chakotay today." he whispered into her ear.

"Jake it's me..."

"I think you and Seven would like him." he went on in a sleepy daze. "I think he likes Seven because he kept asking about her."

"Jake it's me, Seven." she told him as he opened up his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hi." he said as he let out a yawn.

"Hello." she replied back with a lack of anything else to say.

"I haven't seen you all day, so me and Chakotay played baseball in the holodeck."

"You've already informed me."

"I just don't see you that much anymore." he told her as he grabbed onto her arm, before she could get off of the bed. "You should come to the holodeck with me, Chakotay, and my dad soon. It'll be fun and I think Chakotay likes you."

Before she could tell him that he was too old for her, he had gotten more comfortable and had snuggled onto her chest. As she tried to move him onto the bed, he only clung onto her tighter and had fallen fast asleep.

Looking down at the boy of which was holding onto her like a life line, she knew that there was only one course of action.

"Computer thirty five percent illumination." she called out as the lights to the room dimmed.

Getting comfortable herself, she pulled the covers over the both of them and closed her eyes. Trying to get her mind to seek amusement at her sleeping arrangements at the moment, she couldn't help but think about a certain Lt. Commander Chakotay.

Not understanding why her cheeks were now beet red at the thought of him, she was intent on finding out. Knowing that the subject matter dealt with that of sexuality she pondered on if she should talk to her Grandpa, Ben, or Tom Paris about it at a later time.

Feeling that Jake had let his grip loose, Seven got out of bed and returned to her room to regenerate.

* * *

Sitting down in his room to a cup of coffee, Ben went over the computer logs and the records from the ship they had found. As luck would have it over eighty five percent of the ship's information was intact, of which he sent a copy of to Starfleet.

Strangely the damage the ship had received wasn't due to a battle but rather some kind of malfunction in Engineering. Seven insisted that she find out what it was but it was getting late and he wanted her to regenerate so they could have a fresh start on it in the morning.

Speaking of Seven, he had in mind of having a long talk with her. Lately she seemed distant and he wanted to spend time with her and with Jake for that matter.

'Maybe we can watch some of those old Earth movies we found in the database?' he thought to himself. Among the giga-quads of information they downloaded, they had a few thousand movies to choose from. It was only a matter of finding one that was suitable for them to watch.

As he sat there pondering what to do, his combadge suddenly beeped.

"Go ahead."

"Sir you have an incoming transmission from the Enterprise." Valerie informed.

"The Enterprise?" Ben asked as his blood started to run cold.

"Yes sir, Captain Picard wants to talk to you personally. Should I put him through to your console?" as she asked that it took Ben a moment to answer, before giving her the ok.

"Commander Sisko, it's a pleasure to meet you." the older man said with a friendly smile as he appeared on his screen.

"It would seem." Ben replied back to him, barely containing his rage.

"Ah..." Picard said back, seeing his not to friendly demeanor. "Have I caught you at a bad time?"

"No sir."

"Good. I just wanted to inform you that I'm coming to get my ship in the morning." Picard went on. "That lovely woman Valerie told me it was done being repaired."

"Yes sir, it is."

"Very well... I also wanted to make a personal request. I heard through Starfleet command that you found an old NX ship." Jean-Luc said excitedly. "I wanted to know if it were possible if I and some of my crew could come and see it?"

Ben wanted to tell the other man that he could go to hell instead but he kept his cool. "I look forward to having you." he replied and before Picard could answer he closed communications.

With a frown at being cut off so abruptly, Picard let out an audible huff. Not liking the other man's attitude, he pulled up his file and let out a sigh as he got to the bottom of the page. His wife had died at the battle of Wolf 359.

"Damnit."


	9. Chapter 7 Don't Know How We Got Here

A/N Again thanks for all those great reviews guys. Keep them up so I can keep doing this.

Chapter 7

Don't Know How We Got Here

Ben, Seven, Tom and Chakotay all stood in the docking ring of the orbital space dock, awaiting Picard and his team's arrival. Ben had a nervous twitch in his eye that didn't go un-noticed by the people around him, causing high tension to hang through the air.

"Are you all right, Commander?" Chakotay suddenly asked, trying to cut through said tension.

"I'm fine." Ben growled out, making all of them jump a little. Even Seven of Nine seemed to have been spooked by that. She'd never seen him so angry.

Before she could say anything on the matter, she looked up to see a shuttle craft approach and then dock onto the door before them. After a few seconds the massive door moved to the side and they watched as Captain Picard and his crew walked out and into the main corridor.

"On behalf of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards welcome." Ben greeted warmly. "I am Commander Benjamin Sisko. This is Ensign Tom Paris, Lt. Commander Chakotay, and my daughter Seven Sisko."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Picard greeted as he stuck out his hand for Ben to shake. With another twitch of his eye, Ben quickly shook his hand. "This is Commander Will Riker, Lt. Commander Data, Lt. Worf, Chief Engineer Geordi Laforge, our Chief Transporter Operator Miles O'Brien, Doctor Crusher and Counselor Troi."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't know who all of you are." Ben said looking at them all in turn. "I used to regularly follow your exploits."

Not really paying attention to what Ben was saying, Captain Picard stared hard at his former abductor. It was hard for him to believe but just a few weeks ago this lovely young woman was a cybernetic monster. But here she was, now in her human form, staring at him with those blue eyes.

With hot rage fueling his actions, Picard quickly took a small hand phaser out of a hidden compartment in the back of his pants. With a raised eyebrow, Seven didn't have enough time to move as the older man shot her full in the chest, sending her slumping over a console. With a cry of outrage, Sisko ran forward himself only for Picard to shoot him as well. With an uncharacteristic laugh, Worf and Data held him down as he watched Seven take her last breath.

"Are you all right, Captain?" Counselor Troi asked, breaking him out of his daydream as she pulled him to the side. "I sense a feeling of anxiety and overwhelming anger and panic coming from you."

"I'm...I'm alright, Counselor." Picard said coming out of his stupor as he turned to her and then looked back at Seven of whom was still watching him intently.

"Is your anger directed towards her?" Troi went on. "If so I'm not sensing anything malicious or evil coming from her. In fact she seems to be just curious of you."

"Yes... yes, thank you Deanna." Picard said, dismissing her as he composed himself and looked over at Ben. "Commander may we converse in private? I brought some Cyrian Brandy to celebrate your discovery."

"In my office then." Ben replied, watching the little exchange closely. "Seven, Tom, Chakotay please give our guests a tour of the ship. Power has been restored but keep them off of the lower decks that are being repaired."

"So ummm... ladies, I guess you're with me then." Tom said as he held out both of his arms for the women to take. As he put on his most dazzling smile, Beverly and Troi smiled at each other.

"Mr. Paris I'm going to go on the limb here and say that you're a pilot." Beverly said as more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah." Tom replied with a look of confusion. "How'd you guess?" he asked as the two women smiled at each other again.

"It was just a lucky hunch." Beverly replied as both women took an arm and started to walk off with him.

"Since you're a doctor we'll go to Sickbay first." Tom replied, completely oblivious to what was really going on.

* * *

"I'll be more then happy to show you two around." Chakotay said warmly as he walked up to Worf and Commander Riker.

"Permission to speak freely... sir." Worf spoke up.

"You don't have to address me by rank here, Mr. Worf. Just Chakotay will be fine."

"Alright... Chakotay, you're a little young to be a Lt. Commander, aren't you?"

As he asked that Chakotay couldn't help but smile. He was questioned about that all the time.

"All I can say is I started at the Academy at a young age." he replied thinking of his time there and the fun with the friends he had made. "And I made a lot of crazy decisions mixed in with hard work."

"Still to be a Lt. Commander at 27 is very impressive." Riker spoke up as he gave Chakotay and then Worf a look. The two other men were the same age yet Worf was still a lieutenant.

"I try." Chakotay said proudly. "Now what would you two like to see first?"

* * *

"It is a pleasure to meet you Seven of Nine." Data greeted her with a warmth that surprised her, considering he was an android.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Commander." she replied honestly as they walked on-board the newly acquired ship. The Collective had thought that Data was nothing more then an imperfect being made by an imperfect species, but looking at him now she saw that he was the height of human ingenuity and cybernetics. "May I ask what part of the ship you'd like to see?"

"Engineering." Laforge and O'Brien said at the same time, with a chuckle.

"Very well." Seven replied as she led the way to the turbolift that had already been fixed that morning. "We'll have to stay in the lower confines of Engineering so we can stay out of the repair crews way."

"We understand." Geordi replied as he and O'Brien walked into the turbolift behind her. Typing in the command to go to D deck, she couldn't help but stare at the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise.

"Is there something you needed Miss Sisko?" Geordi asked, feeling the former Borg drone's gaze on him.

"You're blind." Seven said bluntly making Miles shift around uncomfortably.

"Yes I am." Geordi replied with a sigh. "I was born that way."

"I don't understand." Seven started, confusion evident in her voice. "Even though Earth technology is somewhat primitive compared to the Borg's you could still get ocular implants. Why have you not repaired yourself?"

"Maybe because this isn't a handicap." Geordi replied defensively. "Believe it or not but because of this VISOR I helped save the Enterprise and my friends at least a hundred times."

"One hundred and fifteen times so far to be exact Geordi." Data interrupted as the turbolift doors opened and they stepped out. "May I ask Seven but how could the Borg fix Geordi's blindness?"

"Through a series of injections of nanoprobes to the occipital lobe of his brain. The nanoprobes would then spread out and repair the damage." Seven answered, not taking her eyes off of Geordi as she walked. "I apologize if I offended you Mr. Laforge."

"No offense taken Seven." he replied as they walked towards the Engineering department. He had had this discussion with many people over the years and he knew the girl hadn't meant anything by it, she was just curious.

"May I also ask how your journey towards humanity is going?" Data asked.

"It is...difficult to say the least." Seven said after some thought. "But I have certain individuals in my life who are helping me."

"Even though I am an android, I still try to become more human everyday." Data informed her. "I find it difficult as well."

"Wow... just look at all this history." Geordi said as he walked into Engineering.

"You aren't kidding." O'Brien replied as he walked fully into the room and placed a hand on the ancient warp core. "Can ya believe that they thought warp five was fast in those days?"

"Whatever the case may be when I am finished redesigning this ship it will exceed warp 9.6."

"That's about what the Enterprise can travel." Laforge told Seven as he started to walk towards the other side of the massive engine. "But you're going to have to extend this ship by... at least two decks to get a new warp drive in here to handle that much power."

"Unnecessary." Seven said with a raised eyebrow. "With what I have planned such an overhaul would be irrelevant."

"But you're still going to have to extend the decks to put in a holodeck or two." O'Brien added.

"Also irrelevant." she replied.

"Young lady you won't be saying that if you're out in space for months on end."

'I was out in space for years with the Borg without the need of a holodeck.' she thought to herself ruefully. "I'll keep your suggestion in mind."

"You know I envy you." Laforge said interrupting the conversation. "You get to... whoa Data come over here. "

"What is it Geordi?" Data asked as he swiftly walked around the engine to see what had startled his friend.

"I think I found out what caused the destruction of this ship and it's crew." he replied as Data looked at the component that was attached to the engine. It only took his positronic brain half a second to register what he was looking at.

"What did you find?" Miles asked as he and Seven walked around to see what they were looking at. "My God, is that a cloaking device? Why the hell would that be on a pre-Federation ship?"

"I don't know." Laforge answered honestly as a thought suddenly occurred to him that made him laugh. "But it took a blind man to find the problem. I guess if I were a Borg drone it would have taken longer... no offense Seven."

As he said that she merely raised up her eyebrow.

* * *

Picard and Sisko both stared hard at each other as they sat in the latter's office. It had been nearly ten minutes since they had entered the office and neither one of them had spoken. They seemed to be sizing each other up.

Wiping an imaginary bead of sweat off his brow, Picard lost the staring contest and started to speak first.

"I want to be completely clear Commander, anything that is to be said in this room will not be between two Starfleet officers." Picard told him with a low tone in his voice. "It will just be between two men."

"I'm glad you said that." Benjamin said with a smirk. 'I got you now you bastard.' he thought loosely to himself.

"I'll also be honest and say that before I came here I checked your service record and your personal profile and what I found disturbed me."

"Oh please tell me what it was." Ben replied, on the edge of his seat now.

"I know about your wife..."

"That's right you bastard you killed her!" Ben shouted as he jumped to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at the other man. "Jennifer, that was my wife's name! She... she was the love of my life and now I have to raise two kids... two beautiful kids all by myself because of you!"

To his credit Picard didn't move or flinch as Ben was yelling at him. He could only look at him with sorrowful eyes.

"What do you have to say for yourself, damnit?!" Ben shouted.

"You don't know, Ben." Picard said as if he were questioning him. "You don't know how this feels. They took everything I was. They used me to kill and destroy. I...I destroyed your family haven't I? You just don't understand that I couldn't stop them from making me kill my friends and their families. I should have been able to stop them." As he cried out, big tears started to roll down his cheeks.

All the anger Ben had built up in his heart was slowly starting to dissipate. The man he was looking at before him, the mighty Jean-Luc Picard was broken and in torment. It never occurred to him but Picard was just as much of a slave to the Borg as Seven was. If he could give her a second chance, surely he could extend the same to him. Especially since both of them had lost so many people.

"I tried... I tried... so hard... but I just wasn't strong enough." Picard went on. "Not good enough. I should have been able to stop them. I should have been able to..."

"I understand." Ben replied as he put a hand on the other mans shoulder. "After what Seven told me she'd been through, believe me I understand. This is really going to be with you for a long time."

"My.. my brother told me as such." Picard said wiping madly at his eyes before looking up at the other man. "And I can only assume the same could be said for you?"

"I know the hurt will never go away but my wife left me my son and now I have Seven in my life."

"You love her?" Picard asked, meeting his gaze.

"Believe me." Ben started with a big smile. "After meeting her and getting to know her you won't have much of a choice."

'I can't say the same after meeting her.' Picard thought to himself. 'But that was as a Borg drone. I haven't properly met her under these new circumstances.'

"She also saved my son's life." Ben added.

"Your son?"

"I took them to Gilgo beach when I was on shore leave and Jake almost drowned." he said thinking back to that day. He had already lost his wife but if he lost his son... "Seven jumped into the water to save him, even though she didn't know how to swim."

"I...I see." Picard replied in a state of shock. "May I be so bold to ask why you took her in, in the first place? After speaking with you I can only assume that you blamed the Borg for...what happened to your wife."

"Believe me that was one of the hardest decisions of my life." he replied after a few moments of thought. "But then I discovered that she was the child of a former teacher and friend of mine from the academy. She was only a child when she was assimilated and I took her in because she was forced to do the things that she did. I know that Magnus would have wanted it that way."

'I didn't know that she was a child when she was assimilated.' Picard thought to himself. 'This changes quite a bit now.'

As he thought that they sat in silence for a few minutes. Feeling that the situation was calming down Ben picked up the bottle of Cyrian brandy and popped the cork.

"You want to have a drink?" he asked as he picked up two glasses.

* * *

"Those two have been in that office for a long time." Beverly commented to Deanna as all the groups met back in the hallway leading to Ben's office. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I'm sensing... happiness." Counselor Troi replied as the door to Ben's office opened.

"And... and then Will said I almost pee'd my pants sir." Picard said as he and Sisko started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Sir, are you alright?" Will asked as he walked up to his Captain, only for Picard and Ben to point and laugh at him.

"I'm... I'm quite alright number one." Jean-Luc said trying to rein in his laughing fit and properly compose himself. Failing miserably he started to laugh all over again.

"Sir, are you drunk?" Will asked. He had never seen Captain Picard behave this way before and it un-nerved him a little.

"Of course not!" Picard replied, his voice going up a few octaves. "Now take this bottle of brandy and share it with the crew."

"The bottle is empty sir." his First officer told him as he held up said bottle.

"Well then I guess I am drunk." Jean-Luc replied as he and Ben started to laugh again.

"Deanna is he..."

"Believe me he's alright, Will." Counselor Troi said cutting him off. "He needed this."

As the two men finally calmed down, Picard looked up and saw Seven staring at him with those eyes again. Excusing himself he walked over to her.

"May I have a moment of your time?" he asked in a whisper. Not waiting for her to reply they moved off to the side. "I...I wanted to know how you felt about the Borg."

"The Borg raised me..."

"Yes... yes I know that but... do you regret what you've done?"

"Yes and I can only assume the same of you."

Biting the urge to retort, Picard looked into her eyes and saw neither hate nor malice in them. As Counselor Troi said she was only curious of him.

"Young lady after what I've done and the people I've helped kill... I don't have the luxury to feel anything else but regret." Picard told her honestly.

"Then now you understand how I feel." she told him. "I'll never assimilate anyone again but that goal to reach perfection is one that I share with the Borg." she admitted.

"I see." Jean-Luc told her. "I've never admitted this to anyone but I found it very disturbing by having all of those voices talking into my head... but at the same time I felt that unquenchable hunger to strive to be perfect that they do." as he said that he again composed himself as they stood in silence for a moment. Now knowing ho she felt he decided to make her an offer, his earlier hatred of her quickly diminishing. "Your father also tells me that you're going through some sort of program with Starfleet? Whenever you'd like to officially go through the Academy I'd like to sponsor you and offer you a position on the Enterprise."

"I'm sorry to disturb you both." Tom interrupted as he walked up and handed her a small padd that had her passing grade on it. "But Seven I wanted to give you this before I left."

"I'll let you two converse." Picard said with a smile. "Seven think about what I said."

"Mr. Paris you're leaving?" Seven questioned as she looked at him evenly.

"Yeah didn't Ben tell you?" he asked with a fake smile. "I'm going to be the new Chief Helmsman on the USS Exeter. They'll be here to pick me up in a few hours."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Seven questioned, picking up that he was holding back on something. "If you wanted to stay here surely Ben could..."

"Your old man already told me that he'd be happy to talk to someone about getting me reassigned here." Tom interrupted. 'And believe me I want to stay but my dad won't have it.' he silently thought to himself. "But I really want to go on the Exeter."

"Then consider this matter dropped." she told him, giving him a curious glance before thinking. 'What are you lying to me about?'

"I just stopped over to give you your passing grade, to say goodbye and to wish you luck on getting that ship fixed."

"Before you leave I wanted to talk to you about another matter." Seven said as she turned around to make sure none of the others were listening. Seeing that they were talking to Geordi, who was telling them about the faulty cloaking device, she turned back to him. "I wanted to talk to you about love and sexuality."

"Whoa... whoa...whoa, look Seven you're sixteen and your father already said he doesn't want me to..."

"I wasn't talking about you Tom." she replied cutting him off as she quickly turned around to glance at Chakotay. "I was referring to someone else."

"Oh." he replied embarrassed. "Well wouldn't you feel more comfortable talking too... never mind. So umm tell me about this guy that you like."


	10. Chapter 8 Seven of Seventeen

A/N Thanks to everyone that reviewed and is now a follower of my story. To Sage1988, I already thought about the whole ship development part and the bits about the past and it's explained a little more in this chapter. I also wanted to mention that I actually forgot to say that I had accepted another challenge on this fic. It was said that the Defiant wouldn't last as long as Voyager did in the Delta Quadrant so in this fic I either had to prove them wrong or choose an old ship that they had to use. I loved how the old NX ship looked so I chose that one, I just hated when they put that deflector shield on it, it just ruined it's look to me. As far as the cloaking device it's not like the Federation/all of it's members is all squeaky clean and innocent. Remember what happened on the USS Pegasus.

Chapter 8

Seven of Seventeen aka Princess Seven

With a yawn Jake laid his head down in Seven's lap as they finished watching the movie "Alien". The two had spent all day watching old Earth movies that Tom had recommended because after so many weeks of working on the anti-Borg ship, she hadn't spent any time with her little brother.

"Seven are there really aliens like that?" Jake asked, his eyes getting heavy.

"Highly unlikely." Seven replied, her eyes getting heavy as-well. "They share some qualities from a few species that the Borg have encountered but the acidic blood is pure fiction."

'Really, having an insight into the imagination of the writers from that era is amusing.' she thought to herself.

Hearing Jake lightly snoring she was tempted to take him to his room but she was too exhausted. Getting a little comfortable herself after a few minutes she dozed off, before feeling Jake's weight being lifted off of her and then the weight of a blanket taking his place. Opening her eyes she saw Ben standing over her with Jake in his arms.

"Rough day?" he asked as Jake dropped his head on his father's shoulders.

"Jake and I decided to watch old Earth movies today." Seven replied as she stood to her feet. "I.. guess time slipped away from us."

"It more then slipped away." Ben told her as he looked to a terminal on the table that they had watched the movie on. "It's nearly 2300 hours. If we're going to work on the ship later I need you good and rested."

"I wanted to request tomorrow off." Seven told him quickly. "I...I am going to make plans with a friend."

"A friend?" her father asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is your friend a boy?"

"Yes." she answered honestly as her cheeks went red.

"Well then, after you... finish your plans with him I'd like to meet him."

"Why?"

"Because it's tradition for a father to meet the boy that catches his daughter's eye." Ben told her with a half smile. 'And so I know who to beat up if he breaks your heart.' he thought silently to himself.

"We... we are just friends at this stage and I have yet to plan our activity."

"Still I'd like to meet him, because I want to be a part of your life more." he replied as as he looked down at his son to make sure he was asleep. "Do we need to talk about the birds and the bees?"

"Why would we need to talk about birds and insects?" she asked in confusion.

"Ahaha... no what I meant was... do we need to talk about sex?"

"No I've already sought advice about that from another source." she replied as she fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Oh... may I ask by whom?"

"We will terminate this line of questioning!" Seven said with finality as she turned her back to him. Not having it, he grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"Now you listen to me young lady." Ben said keeping his voice low and even, as to not wake up Jake. "It is my job to protect you no matter what and that's a job I take very seriously. All I want to do is make sure you are safe and make wise decisions."

"You doubt my ability to form rational thoughts and make decisions?" Seven asked, hurt evident in her voice.

"You're a sixteen year old girl." was all Sisko would say of the matter as he wiped a small bead of sweat from her forehead with his thumb. "Now like I said when you're done with your... plans I'd like to meet this boy."

As he said that he turned to leave and another thought occurred to him.

"I also talked to Starfleet about three matters. One they told me that our ship was partially constructed before the Romulan wars, but was abandoned in pursuit of faster more advanced ships. When the war started they were afraid they might lose so they finished the ship and put the newest systems upgrades on it that were available at the time, minus the deflector dish. When I asked them about the cloak they said that they must have stolen the cloaking device from a Romulan warship in an attempt to use it against them and run a sort of secret cloak and dagger operation. I believe that the higher ups at that time knew exactly what was going on." he started. "The cloak obviously wasn't installed correctly and that was the cause of the ship and it's crews destruction. Secondly they didn't want us to just spend time on this ship and they wanted us to design some other ones for them as well. I told them I already have some plans for some other ships and that this one was more of a personal matter because as a child my favorite ship was Jonathan Archer's. Since the ship is already constructed all we have to do is a massive overhaul and install what we need to on it, instead of starting from scratch. "

"What was the other matter concerning?"

"They wanted me to name the ship. I told them that I wouldn't name it without talking to you first." he said with a smile. "Any suggestions?"

"What about Sisko's Pimp Hand?" Jake suggested.

"Sisko's Pimp... ahahahaha." Ben laughed. "Jake where did you hear about something so ridiculous? Just what movies have you two been watching?"

As the two conversed Seven just stared at them in confusion. It was easier living as a Borg drone because she knew her place, but in this Collective things were so difficult. She knew that Ben was the King of the family but what was she? Where in this Collective did she belong? Seeing that he was talking to her, she muted her inner thoughts and started to pay attention to what he was saying.

"So Seven what name did you think up?"

"What about the USS Ares?" she suggested.

"The Ares... the old Earth god of war." Sisko said as the name mulled around in his head for a moment. "I like that name but what made you think of it?"

"I... I do not know." she admitted.

"Hmmmm it doesn't matter... the USS Ares it is though." he said as he turned to leave. "Goodnight Seven."

After placing Jake in his bed and making sure Seven was in her alcove regenerating, Sisko went into his room and sat down at his desk.

"Computer bring up the file of every sixteen to seventeen year old boy living on this colony." he said touching his computer terminal.

Chakotay's Quarters

Two Hours Later

Chakotay awoke with a start as he heard some kind of beeping noise. Calling for the lights to go to full illumination, he got out of bed and walked quickly over to his computer terminal. Touching a button to stop the beeping, he smiled as he read a message on the screen.

**Meet me at holodeck three at 1300 hours. Come alone.**

'I wonder who sent me this?' he thought to himself. "Computer can you trace the source of this transmission?"

"Unable to comply." the computer's voice informed him.

"Why?" he asked as he sat back heavily in his chair.

"The transmission was encrypted and the source could not be verified."

"Hmmm... it can't be Jake because he would be asleep around this time and he wouldn't send me a message like this." he said aloud as he saw that it was 0100 hours. Over the past few weeks he had grown very found of the boy and the two would play baseball in the holodeck all the time. "Sisko hates me so... Valerie."

Over the past couple of months the two had flirted often and she had told him that one day she would surprise him. With pleasant thoughts running around in his head, he went back to bed with a smile on his face.

Holodeck Three

Later That Day

The same smile still playing across his lips, Chakotay walked into the holodeck and saw a program playing of a beautiful shiny summer's day in a park setting. Seeing a picnic basket ahead of him, he slowly strode over to it, but didn't see anyone around.

"Hello." he called out. "Valerie...?"

"Valerie is not here." another voice called out from behind him, as she placed her hands over his eyes.

"Seven?" Chakotay asked as he quickly broke away from her touch and turned around. She was wearing a baby blue cocktail dress that clung to her like a second skin."What's going on here?"

"Just two people getting to know one another." Seven told him as she put her hands around his neck. Before he could protest she pulled him closer and kissed him full on the lips.

"What the hell is going on here!?" they both heard someone roar as they broke apart. Looking up they saw Ben standing a few feet away from them, eyes blazing. "Seven is this the boy you were telling me about?"

For the first time in her life Seven felt truly embarrassed. Looking towards Chakotay, who was looking like a scared rabbit and then towards her angry father, she quickly walked out of the room. The distant voice of Ben calling her name echoing in her ears.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Ben asked as Chakotay tried to push past him. "In my office now!"

Ben's Office

A few moments later

"I want to say that I don't hate you Mr. Chakotay." Ben started as he clasped his hands together and sat down behind his desk. "But you're making it very hard for me to like you. First you come here to spy on my daughter, now you're trying to..."

"Sir let me explain." Chakotay stopped him. "Early this morning I received an anonymous message for me to meet someone in the holodeck. I thought it was Valerie from orbital space dock, since me and her have been flirting but when I got there it was..."

"Seven." Ben finished for him. "Don't worry Mr. Chakotay I believe you." Ben said as he stood to his feet, Chakotay following suit.

'Thank the Spirits.' Chakotay thought to himself.

"I'll have a talk with Seven and see what's going on with her." Ben went on as he extended his hand for Chakotay to shake. Falling for the trap Chakotay started to shake his hand, only for Ben to squeeze on it hard and not let go until he was done talking. "If I find out something different from her or you hurt her in someway I'll slap you back so hard you'll think you're a first year cadet again. When Seven reaches the age of eighteen she's free to be with whomever she wants. She has two more years to go so just make sure you remember that. Have a very nice day, Mr. Chakotay."

Taking his hand back, Chakotay walked towards the door and stopped. Steeling himself he turned back to Ben with a look of hurt in his eyes.

"That's one more year." Chakotay announced keeping his voice neutral.

"Excuse me?" Ben asked as he looked up from his padd.

"I said that Seven of Nine has only one more year to choose who she wants to be with." Chakotay clarified. "Today is her birthday."

"Her birth... ahh." Ben said as he put his head in his hands. He'd been so busy working on the Ares that he'd forgotten about her birthday. Seeing that Chakotay was giving him a satisfied look, Ben quickly snapped out a "Dismissed." making the younger man leave the room.

As he left another man walked into the room carrying a birthday cake and a couple of balloons.

Outside of the Mars Colony

Night

So many emotions flooded through Seven's mind and her heart as she stared up at the starry blackness of space. She hated that Ben had interrupted her and Chakotay. It had made her regret even following Tom's advice about what to do on a first date. She had only wanted to kiss the older man and get to know him better. Ben acted as if they were going to have sexual intercourse.

And then there was Chakotay. She didn't know how to feel by that look of horror and confusion on his face when he had seen that she was his secret admirer. The two already weren't really friends yet but she was afraid that they never would be because of her actions today.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she closed her eyes because her peace was now disturbed.

"Seven there you are." a familiar voice said from behind her, making her open her eyes.

"Grandpa?" she asked as she turned around to look at him. "Why are you here?"

"Because today is your birthday." he said with a friendly smile. "Ben told me that you've been missing all day and we've been looking for you."

"I...I thought it was best to avoid a confrontation with him." she admitted.

"He told me as such." Joseph replied as he walked over to her and took her hands in his. "That's why I'm glad I found you. Ben never raised a girl before so this is all new to him. What I want you to understand is even though you are the princess in our family, Ben is the king."

"That is what I do not understand." Seven replied as she met his gaze. "What is my function in this family?"

"Seven... honey you're not a Borg drone anymore." he explained. "It's not about having a function. A family is a unit and we share love, compassion, pain, anger and knowledge with each other. All Ben wants from you is to grow up as healthy and as knowledgeable as possible so when you have kids in the future they can learn the same values that you were raised with. That's why he was so hurt today."

"That's another thing I don't understand." Seven stopped him. "Why was he hurt?"

"Because he felt that you weren't comfortable enough to come to him and talk about sex." Joseph told her uncomfortably. He hated having that talk with his daughter so many years ago. "You're a seventeen year old girl trying to... well I don't know what you were trying to do with an older man."

"It was only a kiss." Seven told him as she looked down to the ground. "Adolescence is nothing but a 20th century invention. I am a woman now."

"You're a young woman who was just liberated from the Borg and you don't know everything you need to know about life." Joseph told her firmly. "I met Mr. Chakotay and he seems like a fine young man. I know that you're strong but what if he was a bad guy and started to take advantage of you?"

"But..."

"Let me finish." the older man went on. "You have no idea what Ben went through when he lost his wife. He was in pain and in agony until he took you in. When you finally broke down those walls you had against humans and started to let him in you also melted the ice that was beginning to form around his heart. He felt that he failed his wife and you're his daughter now. Can you imagine what would happen to him if he felt he had failed you too and not gotten you prepared for the future?"

"I...I hadn't thought about it like that." Seven said as she started to put things into perspective.

"I know." Joseph replied as he gave her hands a gentle squeeze and stood to his feet. "I know that was your first kiss but Ben just wanted to make sure that's all it was. Now come on, I made you a nice strawberry birthday cake and a lot of food."

"Okay." Seven told him as she followed suit and stood to her feet.

"Ah, I still remember my first kiss." Joseph said aloud as he thought about a time long gone. "God it was awful. Her lips were so dry it was like kissing a Targalion wilder beast."

With a smile she held his hand and the two walked back to the colony and to the Sisko's home. As they walked into the living room the lights were cut off. Seeing moving shapes Seven got in front of Joseph at the same time the lights cut on.

"Surprise!" Ben, Jake, and Chakotay yelled out.

"What is..."

"It's tradition to throw a surprise party for your loved ones every now and again." Ben said as he took her hand. Looking around Seven saw a banner that read 'Happy Birthday Seven' and a table with food and a birthday cake with seventeen candles on it. "Now come on, it's time for you too blow out the candles on your cake."

"I do not understand." she said as Ben stood her in front of her beautiful strawberry cake. Joseph had even gone through the trouble of shaping it to look like her face.

"Just make a wish and blow out the candles Seven." Jake told her giddily, his stomach growling with hunger.

Doing as she was instructed she blew out all of the candles and the group started to clap their hands.

"What did you wish for Seven?" Jake asked.

"My wish has already come true." she replied after a moment of thought as she looked at Joseph.

"Here's your present." Jake told her as he shoved a padd into her hands and grabbed a plate to start gathering food.

Taking it she raised an eyebrow as she read the title of what she assumed was a short story.

"My Borg sister and me?" she asked as she looked over at him.

"Yeah... it's a story I wrote about me and you." he said through mouthfuls of food.

"I'll read it later." she promised as she placed it on the table.

"Here's my present." Chakotay said as she looked away and concentrated solely on the object that was in his hand. It was a circular wooden piece with beads, feathers and a web like design in the middle of it.

"What is this?" she asked.

"It's called a dream catcher." Chakotay explained. "My people believe that when you hang this over where you are sleeping that nightmares pass through the holes and out of the window. The good dreams are trapped in the web, and then slide down the feathers to the sleeping person."

"Thank you." Seven said, still not meeting his gaze.

"Here's mine." Joseph said as he handed her a delicately wrapped silver present. Opening it she smiled as she saw that it was a picture of her, Ben, Joseph and Jake on a nice, peaceful, sunny day on earth.

"I remember this day." Seven said with a hint of a smile as she looked up at him. "I will treasure this always."

Not saying anything, Ben placed a big box in front of her. With a questioning look, she opened it and froze as she saw a couple dozen padds and a picture of herself as a child with her parents.

"I talked to Starfleet command and they sent me the entire database of data logs that they had on your parents." Ben explained. "Just keep in mind that this is a collection of who your parents were. Don't read them until you think you're ready."

"I...I will take what you said under advisement." she replied, not really knowing how to take this. "I also wanted to apologize..."

"We'll talk about that later." he stopped her as he smiled. "Now let's eat."


	11. Chapter 9 Crash Course

A/N Thank you guys for all the great reviews. Like I said before the more reviews the quicker I can get this story out, it feeds my ego. Sue me, lol.

Chapter 9

Crash Course

The USS Ares hung in space like both a beacon of hope and something that could mess up an enemy vessel's day. Because of Ben and Seven it was now Starfleet's newest and most powerful vessel. It was the first of it's class to have ablative generator-technology with deploy-able ablative hull armor. It took some time and patience but they were able to extend it by three decks and upon Miles O'Brien suggestion almost a year ago it now held one holodeck.

It was an elegant and majestic ship but it was still able to maintain it's beauty from how it originally looked decades past, even with Seven's modifications. Unlike what Ben had originally planned for it, Seven had opted for a more muscular vessel with a hull that was studded with weapons, a phaser strip on top of the saucer section like that of the Enterprise D and other defensive armory. It would only take anyone a second to realize that this ship was ready for anything.

The Bridge of the USS Ares had finally been redesigned per Seven's specifications. The surrounding consoles and stations now all faced inward instead of out, giving Sisko instant access to his officers. Seven explained to him that he would be more efficient as a Captain that way. Looking around one could tell that it was almost a hybrid bridge of what Benjamin had planned for the USS Voyager.

Sisko sat quietly in the Captain's chair with his legs crossed and a pensive look on his face. Chancing a glance around at his crew, he saw Seven at a new Ops station, Lt. Valerie Archer at the helm, Chakotay at Tactical and other crew-members at their posts.

Before he could even think of how proud he was of his assembled crew the deck suddenly shuddered and the lights dimmed causing the ship to slip into red alert, making everyone tense up.

"We've been engaged by the enemy." Chakotay announced from his position at Tactical.

"Onscreen." Sisko ordered. As the main viewer kicked to life they all stared at the massive Borg cube that stood boldly before them. "Miss Sisko have they scanned us?"

"No Sir." Seven told him as she tapped at her console.

"Good, deploy ablative hull armor." he said with a smile as he leaned forward in his command chair in anticipation. "Let's see if the Ares has some teeth."

Almost as soon as the grey and red armor surrounded the ship the Borg fired at the Ares and blasted the saucer section. If only the Borg had emotions they would have stared in awe as instead of the traditional bubble shielding, the new armor of the Ares absorbed the blast and dissipated the energy across the hull, the energy now giving new power to the vessel. Even though the ship was undamaged it was still rocked by the blast.

"Ablative armor is holding." Seven reported proudly.

"Good." Sisko said not taking his eyes off of the mission at hand. "Helm, bring us about. Target Borg ship alpha four, port side battery."

"Aye, Sir." Valerie spoke up as she got the ship in position.

"Port battery, ready sir!" Chakotay reported.

"Fire!" Sisko roared.

As rapid gatling gun like phaser shots leapt out from half a dozen points along the ship's port side, they hit the Borg cube in what seemed to be non-critical areas until the massive ship exploded. Ignoring the urge to celebrate the crew merely flew through the Cube's debris and turned towards the chaotic battle surrounding them.

Without being told to, Seven put the ensuing battle on the main viewscreen. Two other Starfleet vessels were being out-flanked by a Borg cube.

"The USS Galaxy and the Dauntless have received heavy damage." Seven announced.

"Tell them to fall back." Sisko told her as the Borg vessel turned and came towards them. "Starboard battery...fire."

As soon as the other ships had moved to a safe distance the Ares fired a burst of phasers but this time, the phasers had no effect as a strange shielding appeared around the Borg ship. Menacingly the massive Borg vessel loomed closer.

"The Borg ship has modified its shields, Captain." Seven said with a raised eyebrow. "Our phasers will no longer be effective."

"Ready a quantum torpedo."

"Aye, sir." Chakotay responded as another jolt from enemy fire rocked the ship.

The Borg cube seemed to grow increasingly big on the main viewer as the Ares rushed toward it.

"Captain we have an incoming transmission from the Borg." Seven announced.

"On screen."

As Seven went to work and the viewer changed to a view of the interior of the Borg cube. It was a vast chamber crammed with hundreds of Borg drones standing upright in individual alcoves. They seemed to be everywhere, on the ceiling, walls, and the floor.

Upon seeing this Seven's blood ran cold. A couple of years ago this was what she was a part of. A species of half- man/half machine. No individual personalities. No feelings. A race that had only one goal in life: to assimilate new races into their collective. To become a Borg was to experience living death. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and looked down at the command station, to Ben.

He had opened up his heart to her and had given her a real home. A real life that was hers. Almost as if sensing that she looked to him, he turned around and smiled at her and gave her a wink. Smiling back they both turned at the same time and listened as thousands of voices spoke at once.

"Your defense perimeter is useless. You will be assimilated."

"That's funny." Ben replied with a smile. "Because it looks like we've done pretty good so far."

"Your opinion is irrelevant." the voices told him back. "We are the Borg. Resistance is futile."

"They sound nervous, Mr. Chakotay." Ben said as he signaled to close the channel. "Let's give them something to be nervous about. Fire."

As Chakotay went to work a quantum torpedo shot out of the launcher and headed toward the Borg cube. As it oscillated and changed shape and color in open space it streaked toward the Borg ship.

As the quantum torpedo hit, it shattered through the Borg's shielding with force. But instead of exploding on the surface, the torpedo pierced the ship like an armor-piercing bullet before momentarily vanishing from view. Without dramatic fanfare the cube then exploded like a star going supernova, including the bright lights and shock waves.

Seeing the massive wave coming, The Ares rocked violently from side to side as the Bridge crew held on to their stations.

"Main power is still..." before Seven could make her announcement they all heard the sound of something dematerializing. Looking up they saw over fifteen Borg drones materialize on the Bridge.

"Computer freeze program." Ben said with a sigh as the black and white machines froze in place. "Seven what happened?" he asked as all eyes fell to her.

Feeling the weight of their stares, Seven looked down and started to tap at her console. Letting out a sigh of her own, she raised an eyebrow up and looked at Ben.

"There was a ten second gap in our ablative armor modulation." she announced, irritated. "In that small frame of time the Borg transported over before their vessel was destroyed. They are also on decks D,E, and F."

'We were doing so well.' Sisko thought to himself as he stood to his feet. "Alright people, good job. We'll reconvene back here in a couple of days."

"I believe that I can fix the problem now." Seven told him as she began to work at her console. "It will require several hou..."

"Cadet I said that's enough." Sisko said firmly. Seeing that he might have been too harsh, his features softened. "We've been here all day and everyone is tired. We'll get a fresh start in a couple of days and you can try to fix the problem then. Computer end program."

As the Bridge of the Ares faded away into nothingness, everyone started to file out of the room. Seeing that Chakotay and Seven were still in the room, Ben rolled his eyes and decided to leave them alone since they hadn't seen each other in awhile.

* * *

Blowing out a breath of relief as he saw Ben walk out of the room, Chakotay smiled as he saw Seven trying her best to avoid him. Seeing that she was about to walk out of the room he swiftly walked up behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Commander is there something you required?" Seven asked, not looking at him.

"Do we have to be so formal Seven?" Chakotay asked with a sly smile. "Chakotay will do just fine."

"Yes... Chakotay." she replied back not knowing why her cheeks were turning pink.

With an inward chuckle Chakotay just stared at the young woman before him with amusement. A year ago she seemed so confident and proud but here she was standing before him like a scared little puppy. He had to leave soon after she had kissed him to go back to the Academy to train the newest line of Ensigns and Cadets in advanced combat training, so he didn't have time to tell her how he felt. To be honest he really didn't know how he really felt.

Although he knew that she wasn't an experienced kisser there was still so much passion behind it. Passion that he had to deny because of their age difference. But since then a full year had passed and now she was eighteen. He had tried to dismiss the incident all together and even went on several dates since then, but none of them could hold a candle to what Seven offered in just that one kiss. She was incomparable in more ways then one.

'Maybe I'll just tease her a little.' he thought to himself, his smile getting even wider. "As far as what I required, I wanted to know about a certain kiss you gave me a year ago?"

As he said that her eyes got as wide as saucers.

"I wanted to talk to you about it when I got back a couple of weeks ago but you've been avoiding me the whole time." he told her as a thought hit him. "Meet me in holodeck three at 1200 hours tomorrow and don't be late."

With that said he quickly walked out of the room, leaving a very confused ex Borg drone in his wake.

Holodeck Three

The Next Day

Exactly 1200 Hours

As the holodeck doors opened and Seven of Nine walked into the room, she saw the exact same program that she had ran the day she had asked Chakotay out to the holodeck. Speaking of the Lieutenant Commander as she looked up she saw him sitting under a tree and placing bowls on a red and white checkered blanket.

"Good you're not late." Chakotay said as he heard the holodeck doors close behind her.

"What is this?" Seven asked as she walked up to him, her heart starting to pound in her chest.

"While I was gone I started thinking that we never got to finish our date." he told her as he reached into the picnic basket and took out a bottle of apple cider and two glasses. "Now have a seat. We should eat before our soup gets cold."

Nervously Seven sat down beside him as he took a small pot out of the basket and started to ladle some mushroom soup into their bowls.

"I didn't know that you were a vegetarian." she reasoned as she saw the soup and a simple salad that he was laying out in front of them.

"You probably would have known it if you would have asked." he countered. "You know I ran into your grandfather while I was on Earth. In fact I used to go to his restaurant all the time. He's a stubborn man but I finally got him to start making vegetarian food at his restaurant."

"It... it sounds like you two have gotten close." Seven stated coolly.

"Yes, especially when we started to talk about you." Chakotay said as he met her gaze. "He told me why you wanted to have a date with me and about the kiss."

'Grandpa...' Seven thought to herself.

"I have two things to say about what happened." Chakotay started as he interrupted her thoughts. "I didn't mind the kiss but you should really get to know someone before doing that. For all you knew I could have been married or had a girlfriend. I'm not either by the way." he said as if reassuring her that he was single. "And... and I also wanted to apologize to you for thinking that you were somebody else. Believe it or not but something similar happened to me when I was your age." seeing that she was giving him a look of anticipation, he let out a sigh and told her the story. "When I was seventeen I had a crush on an older woman and I mistook her friendliness for flirting. I... I practiced kissing on a grape every night for a week and one day I said the hell with it and I just grabbed her and gave her the most passionate kiss I could muster."

"Then what happened?" Seven asked with a smile. At least she hadn't embarrassed herself and kissed on a grape for practice.

"Then she looked at me like she was about to have a heart attack." Chakotay said as he looked her in the eyes. "And that punch to the face from her husband didn't feel too good either. That's why you have to be careful when you approach people like that. Especially when they're older then you."

"I'll take what you said under advisement." Seven told him, feeling kind of disappointed. There he was making a show of their age gap again.

"Hey." he said taking one of her hands in his. "I hope you're not angry with me. Look let's just start all over again."

"I am not angry with you Chakotay." Seven told him honestly. "Your soup is just improperly seasoned."

"Your grandfather said the same thing when I made some for him." Chakotay said with a chuckle. "But don't worry I brought some spices so you can season it how you like."

As the two began to eat Chakotay's soup they sat back and went into an easy dialogue. Seven told him that in about six months that the Ares would be complete, as well as her plans for the future and he in turn told her that he planned to be the first Starfleet Captain ever to come from his tribe.

"Seven can I ask you something?" Chakotay asked as he leaned against the tree after they finished their meal. "When you kissed me a year ago... was that your first time?"

"Yes... yes I listened to Tom and he told me to..."

"Tom?" Chakotay asked with wide eyes. "You took relationship advice from Tom Paris? No wonder you got mixed signals."

"I do not find this amusing, Chakotay." Seven said through his bouts of laughter.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Seven." Chakotay replied as he started to sober up a bit. "And I really shouldn't be laughing considering what happened to him."

"What has happened?" Seven asked as she sat up in alarm. She hadn't known the man long but she still considered him a friend. "Is he..."

"He's no longer a part of Starfleet." he told her with genuine sadness. "I don't know all of the details but a few months ago he participated in a covering up of his own piloting error. It was an error that led to the death of three fellow officers at Caldik Prime. He came forward and told the truth of what he had done but Starfleet still forced him to resign. I haven't heard from him since."

"I see." was all Seven would say as she sat in silence. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence she looked over at him. "Why was it important for you to know if that was my first kiss or not?"

"Because I also know how it feels to have your first kiss ruined." he said slyly as he moved closer to her. "You're eighteen now and I wanted to know if it was alright if we tried again?"

Closing their eyes they both leaned in for a kiss, their lips a mere inch from each other. They pulled back however as the holodeck doors opened and Jake came running in.

"I guess fate doesn't want us to kiss right now." Chakotay whispered to her with a smile. "We'll try again another time."

"Seven...Seven!" Jake yelled as he ran up to them.

"Jake what is the meaning of this interruption?" Seven asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"I'm sorry... hi Chakotay." Jake apologized. He had known Seven long enough to know when he was getting on her nerves. "I just wanted to tell you that I told dad how bored I was around here. He told me that he was going to take me on a shuttle so we could go on a trip around the solar system."

"I hardly see that as being a reason to... disturb us." Seven replied pointedly as she gave Chakotay a look.

"Well he told me to ask you if you wanted to come." Jake replied, excitement evident in his voice. Then a thought hit him. "Chakotay can you come too?"

"I'll have to ask your father but I don't see why not."

"Yes!" Jake yelled in triumph as he grabbed Seven's hand. "Come on Seven let's get ready to go."

"I'll get everything cleaned up here." Chakotay said even as Jake was leading his older sister to the exit. "I'll meet you three at the docking bay in about thirty minutes."

"Okay, come on Seven." Jake said still pulling on her arm.

Before walking through the exit, Seven turned and her and Chakotay shared a look. With unspoken words they silently agreed to pick up where they left off when they got back.


	12. Chapter 10 15 Miles in the Sun pt1

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys. Keep them coming.

Chapter 10

15 Miles in the Sun pt. 1

Unknown Moon

With a loud whistling sound the runabout USS Norbourne shook and rolled as it hit the desert ground roughly. The four people inside of it were tossed violently from side to side, then the lights failed, leaving the ship in utter darkness. With the final sound of twisting metal, Seven clawed her way out of the side of what was left of the craft.

Waiting until the ringing in her ears subsided, she took a look around and saw that they had crashed on a very hot, barren, lifeless landscape, dotted with gray jagged rocks, an endless desert and a few mountain peaks in the distance. She couldn't help but wonder why this place seemed so familiar, but shaking that thought out of her mind she looked to the other side of herself and saw that a strange fog seemed to hover over everything else in the valley, obscuring her view.

Even through the murk and from her position, she still saw that the Norbourne had to be damaged beyond repair. It had crashed on it's side against a huge boulder and the haze she saw was coming from broken vents, spewing nitrogen and sparks.

Hearing a groaning sound, she snapped back to herself and remembered what she had to do. Picking up a bag that she had brought up with her, she placed it around her shoulder, before using her Borg strength to tear at some twisted metal, to provide a makeshift exit for the others. After a second, Chakotay emerged from the distorted doorway, coughing and dragging the limp body of Sisko with the help of Jake.

Handing the little boy the bag instead, Seven and Chakotay managed to carry Ben a few yards away before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Chakotay, is my dad gonna be okay?" Jake asked, as he saw his father's burnt uniform. Looking at his face he saw that his eyes were fluttering open and closed at a weird pace.

"Just stay back for a second Jake and I'll check him." Chakotay replied gently as he activated his medical tricorder. "His burns are superficial, but he has a serious concussion and his right arm is broken in three places. I'm going to go and get what's left of the supplies in the runabout and try to send a distress signal to the Fleet Yards. Seven, his head has been through enough trauma, so cradle it in your lap."

As Chakotay ran off, Seven followed his orders and put her bag down on the ground before delicately placing Ben's head in her lap. Seeing him unconscious and broken really un-nerved her. During her journey into becoming fully human, he was a constant if not firm rock that she could rely on. But now here he was broken and barely clinging on to life.

Feeling a set of eyes on her, she looked up and saw Jake staring at her intently. She knew that he was waiting on her to tell him that everything would be okay, but honestly she didn't know. It would take several hours for their distress signal to reach the Fleet Yard and another three or four hours for them to track their location and rescue them.

'But Ben is a strong man.' she thought silently to herself. "Jake everything will be okay." she reassured as the little boy sat down beside her and put his head on her shoulder.

"If anything happens..."

"Nothing will happen." she cut him off quickly.

"We've got company." Chakotay said from his position on the shuttle craft, holding a small black bag in his hands.

Looking from Chakotay to where he was pointing, Seven and Jake saw the opposite side of a rocky knoll above them. Hands suddenly appeared reaching over the rock's crest and with a quick jog Chakotay ran over and handed Seven a phaser but stopped as they saw that it was too late.

Five sand covered Borg drones walked over the crest of the knoll and eyed them almost menacingly. Even though they were still thirty feet away, the drone in the lead spoke out to them.

"You will become one with us. Prepare to be assimilated."

'Am I dreaming?' Seven asked herself, in a state of disbelief. This seemed to eerily close to the dream she'd had, almost two years ago.

"Seven...?" Jake started nervously as he looked at the quickly approaching cybernetic nightmares.

"Help me with Ben." Chakotay ordered as he shot at one of the drones.

As the phaser blast hit it square in the chest, the targeted drown flew down to the ground as the others walked over it. Chakotay gave Jake the small bag he was holding as he and Seven got on either side of Ben and started to quickly go in the opposite direction.

"Lea...leave me." Ben said, trying to snap out of his stupor.

"Not today, sir." Chakotay replied with determination as Ben slowly slipped back into unconsciousness.

'**Annika'** A foreign voice spoke in a singsong like manner into Seven's mind. Shaking it off, she adjusted her grip on the bag that was on her shoulder and kept moving. '**Annika.'** The voice spoke again making Seven stop.

"Seven, what are you doing?" Chakotay asked frantically, the mechanical sounds of the Borg moving behind them filling his ears. "We have to keep moving."

**'Annika, you must become one with us again.'**

"I will not... let them assimilate you." Seven replied as she made a decision and handed him their survival pack. "Once I return to the Collective, you will get to safety... and tell Ben what's happened to me." she told him softly. "Thank him... for making a home for me, for his patience and for his love."

"Damn it, Seven!" Chakotay growled out. Making his decision and not having much of a choice anyway he put the survival backpack on his shoulder and took the full weight of Ben.

"Seven..." Jake started in confusion.

"Jake come on." Chakotay cut him off as he kept his gaze on the tall blond. There was a hint of sadness and regret in her eyes. A regret that he would never forget as long as he lived.

"But..."

"No buts, lets move." With that order given Chakotay and Jake took off in a half run as the Borg started firing at them. Turning back for the briefest of seconds he saw that the drones had surrounded Seven.

* * *

As the Borg drones neared her, Seven stood her full height and placed her hands behind her back proudly.

"My designation is Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01."

As she said that all the drones stopped and looked at her and at each other as if considering. After a moment of what seemed to be inner debate, the one that had spoken earlier did a quick optical scan on her before he spoke.

"Your designation is unimportant. You are a damaged drone." It told her. "You will accompany us."

* * *

A Cave

Chakotay built a wood fire in the deep end of an unusually cold cave, which provided heat and the only illumination they had. There was a small stack of logs as well as some field rations, blankets, tricorders, etc. from the runabout. Seeing Jake resting next to his father on a blanket near the fire he smiled.

That little boy was a real trooper. Not only did he help carry his father to the cave but he helped to gather wood and organized the field rations they brought from the Norbourne.

'If only I were as close to my father as..." Shaking that dark thought out of his head, he looked over at Ben.

He had removed Ben's jacket and found that his left side had been covered in plasma burns. Not really having all that he needed as far as medical supplies, Chakotay had to fashion some crude bandages out of his own uniform. Happy that he had paid attention in his engineering class, he had also made a metallic cast for Ben's broken arm. It wasn't perfect but it would still leave it completely immobilized . As the bone chilling and howling wind whipped into the cave, he remembered from his survivor course that it was bad to let someone with a concussion stay asleep for to long. Fixing up a stimulant, he shot the contents of it from a hypospray into Sisko's neck.

"Benjamin?" Chakotay asked, seeing a little movement from him. "Benjamin, can you hear me?"

As he asked that Sisko's eyes fluttered open and then he tried to focus on him.

"Chakotay... ?" Ben asked hoarsely with a wince.

"Yes." Chakotay replied letting out a sigh of relief as he picked up a canteen of water. "Everything's all right, but don't try to move too quickly. The left side of your body is covered with plasma burns."

Wincing with the effort Sisko took a drink from the canteen, and caught his breath, before trying to figure out what had happened. Seeing that he couldn't move his right arm, he looked down and inspected the cast that was on it.

"You did this?"

"Yeah." Chakotay replied with a nod. "You shattered most of the bones in your arm. There was a bone- regenerator in the medkit, but I'm afraid I'm not much of a doctor, so I just put on the cast."

"You did enough. Thank you." the older man replied as he tried to sit up. "Now tell me what happened? Where's Seven?"

"That's... that's a long story." Chakotay replied as he turned back to the fire and threw in another log.

"Make it a short story then."

Letting out a sigh Chakotay began to piece together all the events of what happened in his head before he spoke. "We flew the Norbourne close to where the battle of Wolf 359 took place. Seven picked up a distress signal coming from a small moon and when we got here we found some strange satellites in orbit that attacked us when we got to close to the planet. I tried my best to land the runabout but we crashed and you got hurt. After I sent out a distress signal and gathered a survival backpack we were attacked by the Borg..."

"The Borg are here?" Sisko asked, trying to swallow a lump that formed in his throat. "Seven...?"

"She went with them... willingly." Chakotay told him with a hint of anger in his voice.

'I will rejoin the Borg at my earliest convenience.' was the first thought that came to Ben's mind as he heard what she had done. It's what she had told him two years ago when he had taken her on her first fishing trip. Two years and he had somehow failed her. After all that they had been through he had thought that she was happy, but now...

"She wanted me to tell you... to tell you thank you for making a home for her and for loving her." Chakotay went on, trying to comfort him. But in the back of his mind he just had to know."Permission to speak freely sir?"

"It's not like we're in much of a position to not speak candidly." Ben replied with a grimace.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" he asked as he stood to his feet. "Why would she do this?"

"I guess in the back of her mind she always wanted to do this." Ben answered honestly. "Maybe a part of her always felt she didn't belong with us."

'But you didn't see that look of sadness and regret in her eyes.' Chakotay thought to himself. "I don't know if our distress signal made it through the interference coming from those satellites that are in orbit so there's a possibility that we'll be here for awhile. We've been here for a few hours and the Borg haven't found us... or at least haven't attacked us so far."

"Do you have any clue how many of them there are?"

"No... but they have one more then what they should have now." Chakotay replied lowly as they both sank into an uneasy silence.

"Hel... help me to stand up." Ben replied with a wince as he tried to sit up.

"Why?" Chakotay asked, not moving from where he was standing.

"You know why." Ben replied lowly. "Magnus and his wife failed Annika before and I'll be damned if I do the same."

"Commander... Ben you can barely stand up." Chakotay told him, not believing the words that were about to come out of his mouth next. "Besides you said it yourself that Seven made up her own mind that she wanted to rejoin the Borg."

As he said that he earned a glare from his superior officer. Seeing that he was probably going to go off into a deeply angry rant, he decided to speak first and change the subject.

"We have enough field rations to last for about a week and a half, but just in case help doesn't come soon I'd feel better if I could locate another source of food and more importantly water. The surface is inhospitable to say the least, but I was able to find firewood and kindling, so there's a good chance there's edible vegetation out there somewhere. I just have to find it."

"Just... just be careful." Ben replied grumpily. He just didn't have the energy to fight.

"I'll try my best." Chakotay replied with a smile as he handed him a phaser. "I should only be gone for an hour or so. Your concussion wasn't as severe as I originally thought it was but do you think you'll be well enough to stay up until I get back?"

"I'm tougher then I look, Mr. Chakotay." Ben said as he looked down to the form of his sleeping son. "We'll be fine."

"Alright, I'll keep an open com-channel and I'll be back soon." the younger man replied as he turned to leave.

"Wait, I do have one last question." Sisko told him making him stop in his tracks. "It's not that I'm ungrateful but I could have sworn that I gave you the order to leave me behind, because I didn't want to slow you down. Why didn't you?"

"I'm the type of guy that doesn't like to leave people behind." Chakotay said without facing him. "I'll be back."

With that said Chakotay swiftly walked out and into the mouth of the cave. Looking down to the ground he smiled at the bundle of fruit and berries that he had already gathered when he was out with Jake. He had already made up his mind what he had to do and if he got caught he had left instructions for Jake on a data padd on what to do to take care of his father until help arrived.

Putting his right hand up to the sky, to block the glare of the sun he took his tricorder out of his back pocket. Typing in a few commands he picked up Seven's combadge signal and triangulated it's direction. Tightening his grip on his phaser, he took off into the desert and into the harsh unforgiving sun.


	13. Chapter 11 15 Miles in the Sun pt2

Chapter 11

15 Miles in the Sun pt. 2

The one thing Seven could honestly say she missed about being a drone was that they never seemed to get tired when they walked. She considered herself to be in top physical condition but walking for nearly an hour and a half in the hot desert sun wasn't ideal.

Sensing that their long trek was finally coming to an end, she looked up and saw a large cave with what seemed to be large panels sticking out of the top of it. Nearly stumbling as one of the Borg drones pushed her, she walked into the mouth of the cave and stared in awe at what she saw inside.

It was like the inside of a Borg cube. The room was filled with over fifteen regeneration alcoves and had what looked to be Federation styled equipment lying around in various points of the room.

"Impressive isn't it, Annika?" a female's voice said from behind her. "We use the super conductng solar panels on the top of this cave to power all of our systems and alcoves."

Turning, Seven was greeted with nothing but darkness. As she tried to use her occular implant to see who had spoken to her, she found that it was somehow being blocked.

"You're the voice that spoke to me through my neural transceiver." Seven stated as a matter of fact. "You are not the Borg Queen. Who are you?"

"You're an inquisitive one aren't you?" the voice spoke up again. "I suppose I'll let you in on a little secret. Long ago it was decided that some female drones would be programmed with what is called the Royal Protocol. It's a program designed to keep order amongst drones whenever the current Queen is deactivated or if we are somehow severed from the Collective. The current Queen is still alive but I'm still royalty aren't I? Hmmm then you may call me Duchess."

"The Duchess of the Borg." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow. Now everything made sense on how the Borg had stayed around for so long. Once one Queen got deactivated or too old another one would come along and take their place.

"Yes that seems to be a suitable name considering the circumstances." Duchess replied a smile seemingly in her voice. Reaching out through the darkness, she gently stroked the side of Seven's cheek almost motherly. "And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking how did we get here on this moon?"

"The thought had crossed my mind." the beautiful blonde stated dryly.

"I'll give you a clue. Stardate 44002.3."

"Wolf 359." Seven replied as her eyes shot up again.

"Correct." Duchess said with another smile in her voice. "Most of these drones are the survivors of a small Earth civilian freighter and the USS Saratoga that the Borg had assimilated. Before our cube was destroyed we managed to beam down to this moon with several supplies and alcoves from our ship. It required some effort but we made satellite's to orbit this moon so..."

"So you could draw other vessels to this planet and assimilate them." Seven finished for her. Looking around that would explain all of the Federation equipment that was laying around. "I'll also assume that they also mask ion trails to keep other vessels from finding the missing ships."

"Very good." Duchess complemented. "We've managed to capture two other small vessels and soon my drones grew from twenty to fifty. And imagine my surprise when I sensed your neural transceiver. I've only been able to read a little of your mind but besides you being a severed drone you are very unique aren't you Seven of Nine?"

As she said that two Borg drones stepped forward and grabbed Seven by the arms. Before she could put up much of a struggle, one of them put a circular disk on her neck that made her collapse bonelessly in their clutches.

"It's a uniqueness that I'll use to help me draw more ships to this area." Duchess went on, as Seven sank to her knees. "I won't turn you back into a drone yet but after you've helped me amass an army and build a ship to get off this moon... well you get the picture."

Wordlessly, the drones dragged Seven away as the Duchess stepped out of the shadows. Even though her skin had turned an ashen gray like the others anyone looking at her could tell that she was once a beautiful woman. Oddly she still kept her hair which was long and black and she had soft brown eyes. Seeing her newest pet being carried away, she smiled, her lips curved up in a sadistic grin

* * *

With a grunt, Sisko shook himself awake, the last of his bad dream slipping from his mind. Feeling that Jake wasn't beside him, he was about to call out his name until he saw him walk back into the cave carrying a bag of fruit and a data padd.

"Jake you can't just go wandering off!" Ben barked. "It's too dangerous out there. Where did you get that bag of fruit from?"

"Chakotay left it." Jake said innocently as he finished reading what was on the padd. "Dad, I think you need to read this."

Accepting the padd, Sisko tiredly read it's contents and frowned.

'Damn it, Chakotay what are you thinking?' he thought to himself.

"Dad what does that letter mean?" Jake asked, snapping Ben out of his thoughts.

"It means that we might have to run." his father replied, knowing that if the Borg had caught Chakotay that they would know where they were. "Start gathering our things and if this combadge chirps twice it means that Chakotay is in trouble and we have to get out of here."

* * *

Borg Cave

Vicious memories assaulted Seven's mind as she writhed on the cold floor in the back of the Borg cave. Sitting up she rubbed her hands on her arms and stared wide eyed as a Borg drone stood watch over her silently.

Suddenly a hand came out of the darkness and grabbed the drone on a wire that connected from his back to his head. Snatching it out, the Borg drone quickly fell with an audible thump to the cold ground.

"Papa?" Seven asked as her eyes glazed over.

"No Seven it's me." Chakotay said as he stepped into a pool of light coming from an open shaft above him. Trying to reach out to help her up, his hand was hit with a force field.

"No... no, Papa said that everything would be okay." Seven replied as she started to rock back and forth on the ground.

"Seven try to keep your voice down." her savior told her as he started to look around the cave. It was weird how easy it was to come into this place and it reminded him of when Seven had told him that drones normally ignored individuals unless they felt threatened. "Now hold on and I'll try to get you out of this."

"The men came..." she went on. "Papa tried to fight them, but they were too strong... I tried to hide... maybe they wouldn't find me ... because I was little... but they did..."

"Seven what are you tal..." Chakotay stopped talking as he realized that she must have been reliving the day she was assimilated.

"Then Papa said we were going to crash... and the big man picked me up... suddenly we weren't on our ship anymore. We were somewhere else..." As she told him that she looked up at him, seemingly purged now and felt more like herself. "I don't know why I'm frightened. These are my people."

"These aren't your people, Seven." Chakotay corrected. "Doesn't your fear of them prove that? If you're afraid, then get up and let's leave this place."

"Once I've been reintegrated into the Collective, my fears will disappear." As those words left her mouth he saw that she was clearly disconcerted, uneasy about taking that step.

"Seven... release the force-field." Chakotay pressed, urgently. "We have to get out of here now."

Surprising her with the urgency in his voice, Seven stood to her feet. Giving him a look, she finally registered that he was there.

"Chakotay what are you doing here?" she asked. "You will be assimilated."

"Not if you deactivate that force field and come with me now." he pleaded.

Looking over to her side, she saw a panel in the cave wall. Sticking her assimilation tubes into it, the force field faded into nothingness. Feeling a wave of dizziness as she stepped away from where she was being contained, she snatched the disk off of her neck and threw it to the ground.

"What was that?" Chakotay asked, as she stepped on the device, crushing it under her boot.

"Nothing good." Was all Seven would say as she led the way to the exit.

As they got close to the lip of the cave all the lights in the room suddenly cut on and all of the Borg drones in the room turned and looked their way. Eerily the red lights from their optical scanners pinpointed Seven and Chakotay's face and chest like a sadistic swat team.

"Oh crap." Chakotay blurted out as they were slowly being surrounded. "You have any bright ideas?"

"Just one." Seven replied as she snatched his phaser out of his hands.

Setting it to self-destruct, she threw it to the ground and snapped out a "run" before they took off towards the exit. Jumping out just in time, they heard an explosion behind them as the phaser exploded and huge boulders covered the opening that they had just run out of.

"That will not hold them for long." Seven warned as she stood up from the ground and dusted off her clothes.

"Then let's not be here when they get their bearings." Chakotay told her warmly as he grabbed her hand. "Come on."

As they took off in an easy run, Chakotay hated to admit that Seven was right as the Borg drones started to materialize around them, as they were in mid-run. Seeing that they were about to be boxed in, they were forced to stop as the drones started to surround them.

"I don't suppose you have any other ideas?" Chakotay asked her, as the Borg slowly started to walk towards them.

Before Seven could answer a Federation runabout hovered over their position and started to blast several Borg drones with phaser fire. Making a path they landed in the middle of the Borg massacre. As the back of the runabout opened, they saw Valerie and a few other N.D.'s with phaser rifles.

"You two need a ride?" Valerie asked happily, until she looked down and saw Chakotay holding Seven's hand. 'That Borg bitch get's everything.' she thought loosely to herself.

Not having to be asked twice, Seven and Chakotay made a mad dash towards the shuttle as Valerie and the others laid down cover fire for them.

"Seven!" Jake yelled happily as his sister walked into the back of the compartment.

Not saying a word she just gave him a hug, happy that her dream didn't come true that he and Ben would turn into Borg drones. Seeing Ben laying down on a table, unconscious, she walked over and held his hand.

"Mr. Jones, get us the hell out of here!" Valerie yelled to the pilot as she and the others got back onto the shuttle.

As they took off and up into the sky, Chakotay looked over at his savior.

"So Valerie, how did you find us so fast?" he asked. "I would have thought that it would have taken you a few more hours to find us."

"We were headed in this direction anyway, sir." Valerie said, all business. "We kept getting reports from bypassing ships of some kind of magnetic disturbance coming from this moon. When we got close we found your distress signal about the satellites and we got rid of them before they attacked. We locked on to your combadges and here we are."

There was something in Valerie's eyes that Chakotay didn't like. That warm Valerie he knew just wasn't there. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she looked at Jake and softly patted his head.

"Don't worry little guy." she told Jake with a warm smile. "Your dad is going to be okay. We're going to take him back to Mars and..."

"No, we must take him to the Ares." Seven protested.

"As you wish Your Majesty." Valerie replied with a snarl as she stood up and walked into the front compartment.

The Ares Sickbay

Several Hours Later

"Seven I don't understand why you wanted to bring him here." Chakotay said as he helped lay Ben down on the bio-bed. "Did you want the doctor to meet us here?"

With a grumble, consciousness swam back to him and with a large intake of breath Ben opened his eyes.

"What... what's going on?" Ben asked as he looked around. "Where are we?"

"Dad!" Jake yelled as he ran and gave his father a hug.

"I told you we would be fine Jake-O." Ben said groggily as he looked around and saw that they were on the Ares. "Why are we here? Seven..."

"Chakotay, will you take Jake to his room?" Seven asked. Seeing that Chakotay was about to protest, she looked him in the eyes. "Please."

"Fine." Chakotay told her with a sigh. "But we're going to have a long talk about this later. Come on Jake."

As the two walked out of the room, Seven turned back to see Ben staring at her. Sitting up on the bed more, to get comfortable, he suddenly frowned.

"Care to explain what happened down there?" he asked patiently.

"A new threat that we have to deal with. The Borg have a..."

"I'm not talking about the Borg damn it!" Ben swore. "I'm talking about you. I almost lost you today and I want to know why."

"Because I...I... had to find myself." she shamefully admitted as she looked down to the floor. "And I did not wish to see you, Jake, or Chakotay assimilated so I offered myself to them. I also had to know... I had to know if I belonged with them or with you."

"And what did you decide?" Ben asked.

"Is me not being here enough to answer that question?"

"No it's not." Ben replied hotly, his voice cracking. "I can't afford to keep losing. I have to hear you say it."

"My papa left me to the fate of the Borg." Seven spoke up as a fat hot tear rolled down one of her eyes. "He left me because he was too weak, too arrogant. Chakotay told me that even in your weakness that you tried to come back for me. You... you are my papa now."

Having yelled at the girl... no young woman before him, Ben lost all the anger that was in his heart. Just as much as he was breaking up, Seven was doing the same. Grabbing her hand, he suddenly smiled at her warmly.

"It's going to be alright." he said as she walked on the other side of the bio-bed and leaned into his embrace. "And you have to know that your father was many things but he wasn't weak and he cared for you deeply. Now where is that doctor?" he asked after a few moments of holding his daughter.

Gathering herself and nearly forgetting that Ben was in pain, Seven sat up and cleared her throat.

"Computer activate EMH."

As she said that a hologram shimmered to life and spoke.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." the female voice said as she looked around. Recognizing the voice, Ben looked up and brown eyes locked onto brown eyes.

"Jennifer?" he asked, in confusion as his wife or at least a hologram of his wife in a medical blue Starfleet uniform stood before him. "But how..."

"She is the reason I've been very busy as of late." Seven started as she too looked over at the hologram. "I found a hologram engineering expert by the name of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman that was asking Starfleet for permission to make holographic Doctors in his image just in case a real doctor was killed or incapacitated in the line of duty. I told Starfleet command through Chakotay how valuable a doctor of this nature would be and they agreed to let him do it with her being the prototype. As a thank you for getting Starfleet to approve his experiment he made her for you. It took months for us to program her and Jake gave me an old data file with her voice on it."

"But why in her image?" Ben asked, as he looked back to the hologram that was looking back at him in annoyance.

"Because... because I feel guilt about her death." Seven admitted. "I know that I can never bring your wife back, but I wanted to create this program so Jennifer's face would be the first thing people saw when she saved their life."

"I'm sure that this is all a very fascinating conversation." Holo-Jennifer spoke with a roll of her eyes. "But I'm a Doctor not a listening device. If any one of you need assistance then let me know what you need. If not deactivate me."

Giving each other a look, Seven looked on a table and passed her a medical tricorder. Maybe after this was all over she would work on the Doctor's bedside manner subroutines.

"Thank you." the Doctor said with less then genuine enthusiasm as she began her scan on Ben. "Hmmm, you have minor burns, a mild concussion and three broken bones in your right arm. It's been broken for quite some time so i have to forego using just a bone- regenerater and do surgery. Young lady you will have to leave. Only family can be present in the case of a surgery about to be performed."

"I am family." Seven said proudly as she held Ben's good hand. "He's my father."

"Humph you look so much alike." Holo-Jennifer replied sarcastically as she started to gather the utensils that she needed for the surgery.

* * *

The self proclaimed Duchess of the Borg walked through the desert of the Borg moon aimlessly. All the voices of the Collective that she had helped to build were now all gone. Only her voice remained now.

Starfleet had swarmed the moon and had either destroyed or gathered up all of her drones, presumably to disassemble them and take them back to their families. She alone had escaped and was somewhat thankful that Starfleet was gone.

Lost in her own thoughts, a stray memory of her own life before becoming a Borg drone popped into her head. It was a memory of a tall black man and a little boy.

'I was a mother.' she thought to herself. 'And a wife. I... I died trying to save my son.'

Walking further out into the nothingness of the planet Jennifer Sisko saw another cave in the distance and walked towards it.


	14. Chapter 12 Lovers Walk

A/N Thanks for the great reviews guys, I'm so close to a hundred right now, yes! I also wanted to thank my beta for some of the dialogue she provided for this mini chapter.

Chapter 12

Lovers Walk

"You disobeyed a direct order and you were very reckless, Mr. Chakotay!" Ben yelled as he paced around his office, his sore arm now in a sling. "I have no choice but to send Starfleet Command this data padd of your actions."

As he said that he placed the padd on his desk and pushed it in the other man's direction. With a sigh, Chakotay's eyes went wide as he read the contents of it.

"You want me to serve as your First Officer?" Chakotay asked in shock.

"I disobeyed orders and was reckless myself when I was coming up as a Starfleet officer." Ben told him with a warm smile. "I'm supposed to keep this a secret but Admiral Paris informed me that upon completion of the Ares that I'm going to be named her Commanding Officer. When I take my oath as Captain I'm going to personally request for you to serve as my Commander. I also wanted to apologize for treating you harshly and I wanted to thank you for protecting me and my family on that moon."

"I...I don't know what to say." Chakotay said feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"Just say yes."

"I...I'll do it." Chakotay said with a sly smile as he and Sisko shook hands.

"Really, Chakotay I don't know what was taking you so long to decide." Ben said teasingly. "Especially when you know that Seven would be coming with me."

"I..."

"It's all right Chakotay." Ben said putting a hand up. "I'm not blind you know. I see the way you look at her and I told you that when she gets eighteen she's free to date whomever she wants."

"And you wouldn't have a problem with her dating me?" Chakotay asked, surprised by Ben's shift in attitude.

"No, but just remember what I told you before. If..."

"If I hurt her you'll slap me back so hard I'll feel like a first year cadet again." the former tattooed terror cut him off with a chuckle. "I remember."

As the two sat there and chuckled Chakotay's combadge suddenly chirped.

"Chakotay here."

"Commander you have a priority one message from Starfleet Command." Valerie told him. "It's Admiral Namimby."

"You can use my office." Ben told him as he stood to his feet and walked out of the door.

"Thank you. Valerie can you patch the message through to Ben's office?" As Chakotay asked that, Valerie closed the com-channel abruptly, without saying anything, even as an older Korean man's face appeared on the console. "Admiral, I was just on Earth a couple weeks ago. Do you miss me already?"

"I...I wish that we could be talking under better circumstances." Namimby started with a solemn expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Chakotay asked with a frown, his earlier jovial mood gone.

"As you're aware there was a treaty proposed by the Federation and Cardassia." Namimby went on with a sigh. "The Federation signed it..."

"No!" Chakotay shouted as he stood to his feet. "How could the Federation be so blind? So stupid..."

"We didn't make this decision lightly, Commander." he said cutting him off. "What could the Federation have done? We lost a lot of ships and a lot good people during the battle of Wolf 359. How do you think we would have faired if the Cardassian's decided to attack us now that we're so vulnerable? We had to do what we had to in order to survive!" Namimby told him with quiet rage.

"I... I guess I never thought about it like that." Chakotay replied, letting what his mentor said sink in, but then the bombshell hit.

"There's more son." the old Admiral continued as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "The Cardassians didn't want any humans in their sector of space and they gave the people of Dorvan Five three days to leave their planet. Your... your father refused and joined a band of rebels from neighboring planets to fight off the Cardassians and keep their home. I'm sorry Chakotay but your father was killed..."

* * *

As Chakotay walked out of Ben's office, he took his combadge off and threw it so hard that it bounced off the wall before skittering to the floor. He tried so hard to believe in Starfleet principles but now...

"I'm sorry." he blurted out as he roughly bumped into someone.

"Chakotay." Seven said with a smile until she read the expression on his face. "What has happened?"

"I... let's go somewhere and talk alone." he replied as he grabbed her arm and led her out of the building.

Somehow managing to keep his composure until he got outside, Chakotay took a deep breath even as tears started to sting his eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, he quickly closed it because he didn't really know what to say.

"Chakotay what's wrong?" Seven asked as she gently touched his tattoo. Prompted by her touch, he took another deep breath before talking.

"I want you to tell your father that I'm sorry." he started as he turned away from her gaze. "And I have to leave Mars on the next transport."

"Has Starfleet reassigned you?" Seven asked quietly. "When will you be back?"

"I'm... I'm not coming back." Chakotay replied as a tear fell from his eye. "My father was killed two days ago and the Federation stood by and did nothing."

Seven stared up at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, painfully transfixed with the agony etched into his familiar face as well as by the tears filling his eyes, only held back, she sensed, by regard for her reaction. She tried to form words, but her throat closed over as she was overwhelmed for an instant with genuine empathy at the thought of losing Ben in such a manner, a fate that Chakotay himself had helped her to avoid just hours before. It wasn't fair that while saving her father, his had already been lost. "I…I'm sorry about your father…truly I am but…" She gulped hard, blinking her own tears away as she looked up at him in confusion, "Why are you leaving? Your father is already…gone."

Chakotay flinched at the word, although Seven had searched through her vocabulary in an effort to find a word gentler, kinder, than 'dead'. He looked down at her seriously, wincing as if staring into a bright light, "Maybe I can't…save him…" He choked out, "But I can continue his cause, it's my cause now too Seven." His voice gained conviction as well as heavy sorrow as he spoke.

Seven shuddered as the meaning of those words sank in. "But that cause has already killed your father!" she cried out shrilly, clinging to the hope that he'd see her logic even as he flinched again. "Please…" She found herself whispering as he turned his gaze down from her, shutting her out. Memories of what Joseph had told her about what Ben had been through, of helping Jake, of her own mixed-up, confused grief struck her. "My father can help you…I can help you, please do not go…"

"I have to, please understand Seven." Chakotay forced out, "I've been betrayed, I can't just let that go, not for Starfleet…not even for you." He took a deep breath as he gazed down at her beautiful, stricken face, "I need you to know that I never wanted to hurt you…"

"You've succeeded anyway." She replied sharply as she turned to leave, only for him to grab her arm.

"I care about you deeply…"

"If that were true you would not be leaving to be killed…" Seven whispered faintly, her jaw clenching when his grip on her arm tightened, "Let go of my arm!" she yelled as her eyes flickered dangerously. Seeing how hurt she was, he let go without protest.

"Just promise me two things. You look after your brother and father and keep them safe." Chakotay told her as he tried not to fall apart in front of her. "And I want you to promise that you'll forget about me and find someone that can love..."

Not letting him finish his words, Seven just stared at him as if she held onto all the pain in the world, before turning and running off into the night. The sounds of Chakotay calling her name seeming like a faded memory.

* * *

Ben frowned as he walked by Seven's room and heard the sound of crying. Not asking to be let in, he bypassed the security controls and saw her sitting up against her alcove openly weeping.

"I... I do not wish to be disturbed."

"Please Seven just tell me what's wrong?" Ben asked as he walked in and crouched down in front of her. "Are you hurt?"

"Only... here." she replied as she pointed at her heart.

"Was it Chakotay?" Ben asked, as his heart started pumping. He had told him not to hurt his girl. "Did he..."

"He left." Seven said simply as she wiped tears out of her eyes. "Why do humans do this? They come into someone's life and then leave without caring about how you feel." 'Chakotay's father wouldn't want him to die.' she thought to herself. 'Why wouldn't he let us help him?'

"Naomi Knowles." Ben said with a dark smile as he sat down next to her, taking her from her dark thoughts. Giving him a look, he went on. "This was about a year before I met your mother... Jennifer." he corrected. "We went to the academy together and she was a very attractive woman. She was doing very poorly in her grades so I wrote a few papers and helped her cram for tests."

"What happened?" Seven asked curiously as she started to calm down.

"She stopped talking to me and left me cold." he replied, shaking his head at the memory. "I found out why a few months later from my rival in school, Kathryn Janeway. She told me that Naomi was just using me to get better grades. It turns out that she had a boyfriend the whole time and I was the other guy."

After Ben told his rather depressing story the both of them sat on the floor in complete silence. Knowing that he probably didn't make her feel any better he stood to his feet and extended his hand.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?" Seven asked as she accepted his hand and stood up.

"To a place that helped me feel better when my heart was broken." he told her with a smile.

With that said he replicated a couple of hotdogs and led her to the holdeck where he started a program about baseball. It was Game 4 of the 1998 World Series with the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees at Qualcomm Stadium.

Even though it seemed to be a silly idea, somehow it still made Seven feel better. She'd never know if it was because of her father's enthusiasm as he explained the game or just spending time with him, but she did start to feel a little better. Their precious family moment was spoiled however as she told him about what had happened with Chakotay. He'd never tell her but after hearing her story his heart was broken too and he hoped that Chakotay wouldn't do anything foolish.


	15. Chapter 13 Journey to DS9 pt 1

A/N I talked it over with the powers that be and the only way I can do the full DS9 storyline or at least to the point where I was going to stop on is to move this entire story over to Voyager's crossover section. I don't want to do that and with a lot of inner debate I've decided to do something odd and drastic in the coming chapters. I hope you like what I came up with. And again as always thanks for the reviews, because I'm over a hundred reviews in now.

Chapter 13

Journey to DS9 pt. 1

The Ares

Observation Lounge

The sounds of applause finally died down as Ben raised his champagne glass up high and started to address the small crowd.

"It is with mixed emotions that I say this because this will be my last day as a Commander. The last three years have been the most demanding, and rewarding of my career. I can only hope that my future as a Starfleet Captain will hold even greater challenges."

With a smile on her lips, Seven then stepped forward and placed the fourth pip on her father's collar. With a smile back, Ben took a good look at her and saw that she was now wearing a proper Starfleet gold and black uniform with the one pip of an Ensign. She also wore her hair down and it framed her face beautifully.

He only hoped her outside persona matched how she was feeling on the inside because six months ago she was a mess. After Chakotay had left, she had almost reverted back to that same girl that he had met three years ago at Starfleet Medical. It had taken some time but he had snapped her out of it by putting her to work on blueprints for three different kinds of anti-Borg type ships.

For now since the Ares was complete it was officially classified as a restored escort vessel. And to make it seem less threatening, Seven invented an emulator that would give enemy vessels false readings of what the ship was really capable of.

"Dad, do I really have to go back to Earth?" Jake asked, snapping Ben out of his musings.

"Dad, do I really have to go back to Earth." Sisko mocked as he kissed his son on the forehead. "Yes, you have to go. At least for a few weeks until I can gather all of my personnel for this ship."

"Don't worry Jake we'll try to find something fun to do." Joseph said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Congratulations again Ben... Seven I'll see you when you get back."

"Goodbye Grandpa... Jake." Seven said as she hugged them both in turn.

"Come on my boy." Joseph said as he grabbed Jake's hand. "Let's get to our shuttle and head back to Earth. We have a restuarant to open in a couple of hours."

"Okay." Jake replied glumly as he turned to leave. "Wait... Seven you forgot something in your room on Mars, so I brought it on the Ares and put it by your alcove."

"What is it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a surprise." he replied with a wave as he and Joseph walked out of the room.

"I'm glad you're not a windbag like some other Captain's I know." a female's voice said from behind Seven and Ben.

Turning they saw that it was a tall beautiful woman with long black hair and leopard like spots running along the base of her neck. Looking to her collar Ben saw that she held the rank of Lieutenant.

"Do I know you?" Ben asked as he gave the woman a look. There was something in her eyes that just seemed so familiar.

"My name is Jadzia." she replied with a smile as she extended her hand for Ben to shake. "Jadzia Dax."

"Dax?" Ben asked as he shook her hand. With a smile he knew exactly who this young woman was. "Old man is that you?"

"In the flesh... well sort of." Jadzia said as they both chuckled. "I was really worried about you Ben. I... I heard about Jennifer."

"Yeah." Ben replied sadly as he shook his head. "But what are you doing here?"

"When I found out that you received command of your own ship, I made sure that I was transferred here. I'm your new science officer." she told him, as she noticed Seven staring at her.

"You are species 5628, a Trill." Seven stated more then asked.

"Ummm... I've never been called a number before but yes I'm a Trill." Jadzia started with raised eyebrows. "And who are you again?"

"She's my daughter." Ben said before Seven could reply. At Dax's look, he amended. "It's a long story but I'll tell you later."

"Captain, may I have a word with you?" Admiral Paris interrupted as he walked up to the group.

"Of course Admiral." Ben said as he turned to Dax. "I'll talk to you later... old man."

"Am I to understand that you haven't chosen a first officer?" Owen asked as they moved off from the others.

"Not yet, but I have a few prospects I'm considering." Sisko answered. Truth be told for the first three months that Chakotay had been gone, he had tried looking for him to convince him to return to Starfleet. He had followed up on a few leads but they had all turned to a dead end. "I'm also missing a doctor, a Chief Engineer, and a Chief Helmsman. At the moment I'm more worried about having a first officer and a helmsman. Seven can fill in as the CE for the moment until we can get to the Bajoran system and the ship is equipped with an EMH."

"Well feel free to use whatever personnel you see fit." Owen told him as he took a sip of champagne.

"Do I have your word on that?" Ben asked, through narrowed eyes. "Because I know the perfect person who I can use as my Helmsman."

* * *

With a deep sigh, Ben walked onto the Bridge of the Ares and saw Seven and Dax chatting away at the OPS station.

'Hmmm those two are making out to be fast friends.' he thought loosely to himself, as he cleared his throat. "Miss Sisko would you take the helm. I've received orders for our first mission and I'd like for you to accompany me."

"Yes, Captain." Seven told him as they both sat at their respective seats.

With a small grin, Sisko sat heavily in his chair and nodded towards Seven. "Ensign Sisko, lay in a course for Earth and clear our departure with orbital operations," Ben said as he looked up to see Valerie descending the steps leading towards where he was sitting. Signing off on the padd that now made her a member of the crew, he nodded to her and she took her place at Tactical.

"Course entered. Ops has cleared us and has released the docking clamps." Seven reported.

"Ready thrusters." Ben ordered Dax.

"Thrusters ready." Dax responded with a smile.

"Initiate launching sequence." Ben commanded as he sat even deeper in his command chair. He couldn't help but feel a familiar exhilaration that he always did when he boarded a star ship. It had been over three years since he had felt this way. Three long years.

"Sequence under way." Seven answered, snapping him out of his inner musings.

As he gave the order to engage, the ship pulled away from Mars Orbital and quickly hovered over Earth.

"Seven, accompany me to transporter room one." Sisko said as he stood to his feet. "Dax, you have the Bridge."

Marseille, France

Chez Sandríne

Tom sat down heavily on his barstool savoring the bitter taste of the alcohol he was drinking. Even in the daze he was in, he still couldn't believe how messed up his life had become within the last year.

He had to admit that his father was right about him all along. He'd just end up being a failure and being in a place like he was now, drinking the rest of his life away. As he laid his head on the bar he sensed someone standing beside him.

"I'll have the same thing he's having." a familiar baritone voice suddenly said.

"And for the lady?" the bartender, a rough looking older man asked, as he gave Seven a look.

"I..."

"She'll have a rootbeer." Sisko cut in as he ordered for her.

Opening his eyes, he looked up to see Ben and Seven standing next to him.

"Commander... Seven, what are you two doing here?" Tom asked, trying his best to sober up.

"You wished that when I turned eighteen that we would have a drink at Sandrine's." Seven said as the bartender handed her, her drink. "I am merely holding up my obligations."

"And that's Captain now." Ben said with a smile as he pulled out Seven's barstoll so she could sit down. "We're done fixing the Ares and I need a good pilot to fly her."

"Well you're out of luck sir." Tom replied with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "In case you didn't know but I'm no longer with Starfleet. We had a disagreement and well... they won."

"After an hour of your father yelling at me, I see why you had a disagreement." Ben said with a raised eyebrow.

"You talked to..."

"Yes I talked to your father." Ben interrupted. "And I'm not here to judge you. I just want to hear your side of things."

"Well there's not much to tell." Tom replied with another smile. "Let's just say that the ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas. So I confessed."

"Enough of your foolish jokes, Mr. Paris!" Ben shouted angrily as he slapped the bar. At his outburst the whole room grew so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. As Ben gazed around the room, everyone ducked their head and went back to what they were doing. "Mr. Paris... Tom, I have no idea what your father may have put you through growing up. To tell you the truth he told me that he had no faith in you, but let me tell you what I see. I see a young man who may have lied but had enough courage and conviction to come forward and admit that he was at fault. I can look into your eyes and tell that you had already given up on yourself even before you took that assignment on the Exeter. But what you need to understand is I haven't given up on you. I had to sit there and listen to him berate you for nearly an hour, but you know what I told him?"

"What...?" Tom asked, not breaking eye contact with the older man.

"I looked him in the eye and I told him that if only he could see what I saw in you there would be no way you could fail." Ben told him, as tears started to well up in the younger man's eyes. "I went to bat for you son, so the least you can do is tell me what really happened."

"I... I was just goofing off." he started as he covered his face with his hands. "I... I was flying a shuttle with three others and I tried to do a barrel roll maneuver in the atmosphere of Caldik Prime. The shuttle lost control, but at the last second I was able to straighten it out but it was too late and we crashed on the planet. The next thing I remembered was waking up from a coma in a hospital and the doctor telling me that the other officers I was transporting died. Susan McNeill, Robert Ganoa, and Duncan Herd. I'll never forget their faces because they haunt me in my dreams."

As he told them the story, Ben could only feel sorry for the young man. He didn't know exactly what to say, but it was surprisingly Seven who spoke next.

"Mr. Paris I know how you feel." Seven said as she put her hand on the slightly older man's shoulder. "I... I was responsible for many deaths."

"You're really making me feel better." Tom replied with a half smile as he looked up at her, through his tears.

"Even after all that I have done I'm still trying to redeem myself." she continued, ignoring his sarcastic statement. "There are many faces in my... dreams but my father and others are helping me on my journey. Just let us help you and we can take that journey together."

Ben couldn't help but feel that Seven had wished she could have had that conversation with Chakotay. Trying to get that situation out of his mind, he concentrated on hopefully someone he could pull away from the darkness.

"We'll be in orbit of Earth for one hour." Ben said as he took a combadge out of his pocket and placed it on the bar. "I had to remind some very powerful friends of mine about some favors they owed me so that if you desire you could serve on my ship under a probationary period. Tom I need someone at the Helm of my ship that I can trust. If you believe that person is you, then you have one hour to decide. I'm trying to give you a new start son... take it."

As Ben finished his drink, he and Seven walked towards the door of the bar. Almost as if he could feel his last chances of redemption walking out of his life, Tom stood to his feet.

"Sir, permission to come aboard." Tom said loud enough for the duo to hear. "If you'd have me?"

"Permission granted." Ben said with a smile as Tom walked over to them. "Report to sickbay when you get on the ship and then I'll see about assigning some quarters to you. Sisko to the Ares." Ben said as he tapped his combadge. "Three to beam up."

With a sigh Chakotay watched as Seven, Ben, and Tom Paris beamed up to 'the Spirits' knew where. He smiled inwardly however as he saw that Seven was wearing a Starfleet uniform and seemed to be moving on with her life. When he saw her enter the bar his heart had frozen for a minute but after that minute had passed he had wanted to run to her and hold her in his arms.

After what he had done and how he had left her, he knew that to do so would now be impossible. He had other women in his life that had wanted to be with him, but he couldn't kid himself. Even though he was in Seven's life briefly a part of his heart would always belong to her.

With a sigh, he slinked back into the shadows. Since he couldn't recruit Tom into the Maquis, like he had planned, he thought of other names of Starfleet defectors and walked off into the night.

The Ares

Sometime Later

Seven walked out of her room with a tear in her eye, from the gift Jake had left her. It was the dream catcher that Chakotay had given her for her seventeenth birthday. She had held onto it for a few months after he left, but she had decided that she needed to forget about him and move on with her life. So she had done something any girl would have done when they tried to forget about a guy. She had thrown it away. But now here it was back in her life. She didn't know why, but after looking at it she didn't want to get rid of it this time and hung it over her alcove.

"Hey Seven... wait up." Tom said as he saw her walking down one of the corridors of the ship. Matching her stride, they got on the turbolift together. "I can tell you really put a lot of work into this ship. It looks better then what I expected."

"Thank you for your adulation but why do I have a feeling you want something." Seven replied suspiciously as she narrowed her eyes, wiping away the tear that was still in it so he wouldn't see.

"I just wanted to say thanks for... you know what you said at the bar." he started with a smile. "And ummm I wanted to know if you think you can put in a good word for me with the doc? I mean she's beautiful and all but man she has an attitude. I was thinking I said something wrong to her... why are you smiling?"

Before Seven could tell him that the Doctor was a hologram, the doors of the turbolift opened out to the Bridge. Walking over to her engineering station, she excused Valerie of whom rolled her eyes at her. Ignoring her gesture she looked back and saw that Tom just stood there at the turbolift doors as Ben stared at him.

"Well Mr. Paris, don't just stand there." Ben said with a grin. "Take **your** station."

Taking a deep breath, as Sisko nodded at him, he silently thought to himself that he wouldn't let the other man down. Walking over to the Helm, he relieved the officer that sitting there and stared down at the controls. Seeing a shadow standing over him, he looked up to see Ben with his hand on the back of his seat. Steeling his shaking hands a sudden feeling of pride swept through him as his fingers danced along the console.

"Benjamin I'm getting a distress signal from DS9." Dax announced, as her console beeped. "Commander Shelby is requesting immediate assistance. She says that the Cardassians have set a pursuit course to the station and are threatening to destroy it."

"How long will it take us to reach the station?" Ben asked as he sat down in his command chair.

"At current speed we will be there in an hour." Seven spoke up.

"Mr. Paris increase speed to warp factor eight." Ben commanded. "Dax, let Commander Shelby know that we'll be there within the hour."

"Sir, why are the Cardassians attacking Deep Space Nine?" Tom asked. "I thought they withdrew from Bajor?"

"I have no earthly idea what the Cardassians are doing there." Ben responded as he sat back in his command chair. "Let's just make sure that they have hell to pay if they attack that station."


	16. Chapter 14 Journey to DS9 pt 2

A/N Thanks for the great reviews guys and thank you for getting me over a hundred reviews.

Chapter 14

Journey to DS9 pt. 2

As the Ares dropped out of warp, the Bridge crew was just in time to watch as DS9 launched six torpedoes, which all exploded off a Cardassian warship's starboard bow. Returning fire, the phaser blasts from the enemy vessel exploded off the space stations docking ring, causing a massive explosion of fire and debris.

"Mr. Paris put us within defensive perimeter of the station." Ben said as he accessed the situation. "Ms. Archer raise standard shields. There's no reason to let them know our true defense capabilities."

"Yes Captain." Valerie said as she raised the ships shields. "Sir, the Cardassian ship has stopped firing and is hailing us."

"On screen." Ben commanded as the screen tuned into the inside of the warship. As they did so the crew saw a gray skinned alien with a smug looking smile on his face.

"Federation vessel I am Gul Dukat the former Prefect of Bajor." Dukat said evenly. "And may I ask who you are?"

"I am Captain Benjamin Sisko of the USS Ares." Ben replied just as calmly. "I've come to understand that the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor and left this space station. Why are you here?"

"This was merely a misunderstanding, Captain." Dukat replied as if what he had attempted to do was something very casual. "We ... left something behind and we were trying to retrieve it."

"So you firing on DS9 was just your way of knocking on the door?" Sisko asked incredulously.

"In a manner of speaking... yes." the Cardassian Gul said as he dropped his smile. "And might I remind you Captain that my vessel is far superior then yours."

"Is that a matter of fact?" Ben asked with a smile, as he sat on the edge of his seat. "Just try it Dukat and you'll find that the Ares can knock back."

"Perhaps another time." Dukat said after a moment of inner debate. With a smile as he closed communications.

"His ship is moving off." Valerie reported.

"Whew that was a close one." Tom said as he looked back at Sisko. "Remind me never to play poker with you."

"Who said I was bluffing?" Ben asked with a slight grin.

"Sir... DS9 is hailing us." Dax spoke up. "It's Commander Shelby and she says Bajor's spiritual leader Kai Opaka wants to see you and she's calling for you by name."

DS9

Promenade

As Sisko, Valerie, Seven, Dax, and Tom walked out of the Airlock gate... they saw first hand the level of damage the Cardassians had done to the station as they walked along the promenade. Walking further out onto the street they found a man with no definitive facial features and another man with a teal blue Starfleet uniform tending to the wounded.

"Casualties?" Sisko asked of the man in the blue uniform as he looked around grimly.

"Thirteen injured." Doctor Bashir spoke as he looked up at Ben. "Thankfully no fatalities..."

"Is there some kind of problem young lady?" the other man asked with a dark booming voice as he caught Seven staring at him.

"You are... species 228, a shape shifter are you not?" Seven asked as she started to remember the Borg's designation for what species he looked like.

"And... just what do you know of my species?" Odo asked. His whole life he was alone and had never encountered anyone else like himself.

"Hundreds of years ago the Borg encountered your species in the Delta Quadrant." Seven informed him. "They were one of the first that the Borg had ever encountered that they could not assimilate. The people native of that region of space referred to your people as Quigley Morphs."

'So there are others like me.' Odo thought to himself. 'But do I really come from the Delta Quadrant?'

"Valerie, help transport some of these people to the Ares." Ben said, snapping Odo out of his thoughts. "Hopefully the EMH can help with some of these people."

"EM...H?" Julian stuttered out nervously in confusion. "May I ask what that is?"

"Just follow me and I'll explain, Doctor...?"

"Bashir." Julian told Valerie as he shook her hand. "Doctor Julian Bashir."

"Where is Commander Shelby?" Ben asked as Doctor Bashir, his patients, and Valerie beamed over to the Ares' sickbay. "Does anybody at least know why the Cardassians attacked?"

"I'm afraid I'm the reason the Cardassians attacked, Commander." a voice seemingly filled with dignity said. Looking up, Ben saw a heavy set Bajoran woman with purple and orange ceremonial robes, flanked by a Bajoran security squad, who he assumed was Commander Shelby, and a beautiful Bajoran woman with a deep scowl on her face.

"Commander Shelby?" Ben asked as he looked from the Bajoran woman to the blond.

"Yes and this is my liason to the Bajoran government Major Kira Nerys and Bajor's spiritual leader Kai Opaka. I wanted to say thanks for responding so quickly, Captain Sisko." Shelby said as the two shook hands. "I thought we were goners there for a minute."

"I never lost faith." the woman from before spoke again as she touched Ben's face lovingly. "As I told the Commander before we would meet each other again in this life or the next."

"It's actually Captain now." Ben told her with a smile as she began to tug at his ear. "And I'm sorry but I don't believe we've met before."

"I am Kai Opaka." she introduced herself. "Tell me Captain have you ever explored your Pagh?"

"Pagh?"

"Breathe for me Captain." Opaka requested as she grabbed firmly around Ben's right ear and closed her eyes. An inner calm suddenly came to her eyes, and as Opaka squeezed the earlobe surprising Sisko whose head jerked with pain "Breathe!"

Ben wanted to laugh, but as the woman closed her eyes he felt a tingle surge through his body. What was more strange was that he had a sense of deja vu as if he had done this with this woman before. As he thought that, Kai Opaka looked up at him and smiled.

"It's so strange." she said as she let go of his ear. "Even in this life you are the Emissary, but Bajor is not yours to protect at the moment."

"The Emissary!?" the beautiful Bajoran woman from before spoke up in outrage. "Him? Kai I respect and adore you but..."

"It is not up to you to question the Prophets Nerys." Opaka said as she looked back at the hot tempered woman. "The Prophets have decided."

"I don't understand Kai." Ben said in confusion. "How do you know me?"

"I'm afraid that's a mystery that has to be left unsolved." Opaka told him cryptically as she looked up and saw Seven and smiled warmly. Reaching out she grabbed Seven's ear, making the younger woman fidget uncomfortably. "Ah the Scorpion and the Emissary have arrived." as she said that both Seven and Ben seemed to jump upon, hearing the name Scorpion.

"What, she's not going to grab my ear?" Tom asked, as Dax lightly nudged him.

"The time is upon us." Opaka said as she let go of Seven's ear and pulled Ben to the side so they could talk alone. "To answer your earlier question, Captain the Cardassians attacked this station because they found out about me arriving with this."

As she said that the Bajoran men she was walking with unveiled a tarp and underneath was a gray and golden box with intricate markings and large green stones.

"This orb appeared in the skies over ten thousand years ago." Opaka started. "Eight others have been discovered since. Tradition says they were sent from the Celestial they have taught us has shaped our theology." As she explained that she lifted the ark and handed it to Sisko, letting him know it was now his. It was a meaningful, spiritual moment for Opaka and Ben just reacted to it with curiosity. "It will lead you to the Temple."

"Excuse me... ?" Ben asked as he looked up at her.

"You must find the Celestial Temple and talk to the prophets." she went on with greater emphasis.

"Talk to them...?" Ben asked. "Talk to them about what?"

"You will seek the prophets for their guidance." she further explained. "It is not time for Bajor to be protected by this Emissary but another one under the blood of the Sisko. In the end you do this not for Bajor and not for the Federation... but for yourself, for your own pagh. It is, quite simply, Captain, the journey you have been destined to take in this life."

"I..."

"And you must join him on this journey Kira." Opaka spoke louder, as to get her attention. "Your destiny and that of the Emissary's are now forever intertwined and you will give birth to a new Bajor."

"Dax.. Seven, let's take this orb to the Ares." Sisko spoke up, as he got everyone's attention. "We'll study it and see if we can find out about this Celestial Temple. While we're here we'll help you with repairs to the station Commander."

"Your Chief Engineer is already here making repairs." Shelby told him, as Kira walked over to talk to the Kai. "If it wasn't for him, this station would have been destroyed before you got here."

"Yes, I was told that Mr. O'Brien was very resourceful." Ben told her with a smile. "That's why I wanted him to serve on my ship. Any word when your Chief of Operations will get here?"

"I was told that he would be here in the next couple of..."

"All right... I'll come with you on your ship." Kira interrupted the two Starfleet officers as she walked up. Chancing a glance back at Kai Opaka, she let out a deep sigh. "I'll help you find the Celestial Temple."

"It'll be a pleasure to have you aboard, Major." Ben replied with a forced smile. He could tell that it was going to take some time to get on her good side. As they started to walk towards the airlock, Kira noticed that Odo was following up behind them.

"Odo, where are you going?" Kira asked as she fell into step with him.

"That young lady knew more about who my species were then anybody I've ever met." Odo told her honestly. "When I get a moment alone with her I'm going to ask her some more questions."

"It's not like she's a prisoner of yours." she replied back with a slight grin. "You can't just go around interrogating people."

"Major, I've waited all my life to find out if I was the only one of my kind." he replied gruffly. "And if me making someone uncomfortable with a few questions is the price to pay then so be it."

The Ares

Science Lab 1

"So what do you think?" Ben asked as Dax and Seven sat down at the lab table with the Orb of Prophecy and Change behind a force-field.

"Well it's certainly pretty." Dax said as she eyed the box.

"I do not understand the purpose and nature of religion." Seven said as she looked from Dax to Ben. "Especially a religion based upon something as simplistic as a box found in space."

"I'll level with you." Ben said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't understand their religion either but in my time as a Starfleet officer I've seen many things that I nor science could ever explain. Just don't count out the possibility that these Prophets are real." As he let that sink in he suddenly smiled at her. "Besides for all we know the Prophets could be responsible for giving me such a great gift."

"What gift?" Seven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A beautiful daughter." he told her as he spun on his heel. "I'll leave you ladies to your work."

"That Ben..." Dax said with a chuckle. "He's always been such a sweet talker."

"You knew my father before this assignment?" Seven asked in an attempt to start small talk.

"I guess you could say I... well my previous host Curzon was a mentor to him." the older woman responded, remembering times long gone and past. "I always knew that Ben would do something important with his life."

The two then shifted into a comfortable silence as they set up the equipment that they needed.

"I'm glad that we have at least one advantage. The monks have been studying these things for ten thousand years." Dax started as she typed into a computer console. "I've had our computers set up to interface with their historical data banks and with the knowledge already present this shouldn't take too long. I'm going to get some coffee, you want anything?"

Seeing that the girl didn't want anything, Dax stood to her feet and left the room.

"Computer, create a chronological data base for all historical references to the orbs... plus..." Seven stopped as she considered Ben's words, then she shrugged, why not?"... all reports of any unexplained phenomena in Bajoran space, including all supernatural occurrences recorded in Bajoran mythology."

"Time parameters?" the computer's cool voice asked.

"Ten millenia."

"Initializing data base." the Computer said as it went to work. "Requested function will require two hours to complete."

With a nod, Seven leaned back, stretched, took a deep breath and looked at the orb sitting behind the force-field. As she studied it, her curiosity couldn't be denied. Standing she walked over and after a minute of hesitation, she pressed a panel and the force-field disappeared. Almost as soon as it dropped, green light swirled out from the orb and enveloped her. When it disappeared she was no longer in the laboratory but in the dining room of her parents' apartment on Earth.

Everything seemed surreal as she watched her younger self sitting on her biological father's knee as he read her a story about three bears. Hearing the sound of laughter, she looked over to her left, from her position of floating over them, and saw a young blond haired woman... no, her mother.

Thinking back Seven had remembered this day. She had just turned four and her father had somehow come into possession of some ancient Earth books filled with fairy tales that he would read to her. She had long since read the logs about her parents that Ben had given her for her birthday and even though she was mentioned in them more then on occasion, nothing in them prepared her for this.

The moment she heard her father and mother's voice clearly, a green light shone behind her and just as suddenly as she had been there with them, she was now sitting back in the lab with Dax standing over her.

"Are you alright?" Dax asked as Seven started to breathe heavy, the orb box closing by itself. "What happened?"

"I...I saw why the Bajoran's have faith." Seven replied as she again touched at the box.

The Ares

Ready Room

Three Hours Later

"According to all of the data we've collected most of these orbs were found in the Denorios belt of this system." Dax reported as she and Seven walked into the room to see Ben sitting behind the desk.

"Very good. Take your station." Ben told her as Seven and Dax turned to leave. "Ensign Sisko may I have a word with you?" Giving the girl a warm smile, Dax continued out to the Bridge. "What do you make of Dax?"

"She is a very intelligent woman." Seven replied after a moment of considering. "She's a very unorthodox thinker but very intelligent none the less."

"You should have known her when she was a man." Ben said with a short laugh as he turned serious. "She told me that you had an orb experience. Can I ask what it was about?"

"It was about my parents." Seven said uncomfortably.

"If you want to talk about it you know I'll always be here." he replied as he stood to his feet and walked towards the door. "Now come on, we have a mystery to solve."

As they walked out onto the Bridge, Ben gave the order for Dax to clear their departure from DS9 and for Tom to set a course towards the Denorios belt. Walking towards his command chair he saw that Kira was sitting there.

"So I guess you want this seat huh?" Kira asked as she looked up at the Captain.

"The thought had crossed my mind." Ben told her with a smile. With a roll of her eyes, she got up and sat on the other side of him.

"Benjamin, DS9 has cleared us..." Dax reported. "...and Chief O'Brien is reporting that Engineering is standing by."

"You heard the woman, Tom..."

"I'm way ahead of you, sir." Tom said cutting Ben off. "Course laid in."

"Engage." Ben said as they slipped into warp speed. None of them knew however that their lives were about to change forever.

* * *

A lone Borg drone entered into a room on the USS Saratoga that was destroyed beyond any reason of repair. Swiftly walking past the giant hole that was in the middle of the room it heard the computer blare that it would take another minute and thirty seconds before the ship would be destroyed. Ignoring the voice for now he walked over to a pile of rubble and saw a body laying in the middle of it. Using it's optical scanner it saw that the woman was dead. Stopping it's scan, the drone turned to leave, just as a power transfer junction exploded sending a mass of electricity through the room.

Not being hit by it, he again turned to leave only to hear a gasp coming from behind him. Looking down, to the once prone figure on the floor, he saw her moving. Knowing that there was no time left, he walked over to her, even as she let out a scream and both of them dematerialized out of the room.

As both of them rematerialized inside of a Borg cube, the male drone lightly pushed Jennifer forward down a long hallway. Hearing the sounds of phaser fire, she heard a gruff voice say, "Commander this way!" Before she could call out to them, hoping against hope that they were someone that could help, the drone that had escorted her onto the ship, suddenly sank his assimilation tubes into her neck. With one final cry the words absorb, destroy, and obey filled her mind.

Eyes snapping open, Jennifer stepped out of her alcove and looked around to see that she was still on the Borg moon. Starfleet had nearly taken everything but she had still managed to fashion a regeneration alcove and a small solar panel for herself. Coming out of her haze, she remembered those days clearly. Wishing that she had come to herself as the other drones had been taken away, she suddenly heard some voices in the distance. Maybe now she'd get off this moon after all.

* * *

"Hurry up Nog, you're slowing us down!" a short Ferengi yelled over his shoulder, as his two companions lagged behind.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Uncle." Nog replied back as sweat poured off of his brow. "We've been walking around on this moon for hours. Why are we here anyway?"

"Don't question your uncle." the other male said as he looked over at his son. "He knows what he's doing." he said after a moment of considering. "Why are we here brother?"

"Because Rom, my dear stupid brother." Quark started with a heavy sigh. "Do you know how much gold pressed latinum I could get if I could just find one of those na.. nano..."

"Nanoprobes." Rom finished with a smile.

"Yes, nanoprobes." Quark replied as he looked at him in irritation. Every since he had left DS9 he had been looking for a new scheme. Something that would finally put him over so he could buy that moon he had always wanted. So here he was with his idiot brother and his nephew on a God forsaken moon hoping that they could find something that Starfleet had missed. As soon as he had heard about this place from one of his contacts, he had used what money he had left and bought a small Ferengi transport vessel. It was really clever how he had managed to get to this moon in Federation space. He had set it up to where a client would meet him next to the system to deliver a shipment of different alcoholic beverages. As soon as he had dropped them off he snuck away to this moon, since it was under Federation quarantine, and if he were to get caught his excuse was that he had trouble with his vessel and he needed to set down somewhere. At least Rom was god for something and rigged the shuttle to make it seem like there was something wrong with his shuttle. He already had a buyer and if he could just find a few of the Borgs Nanoprobes it would be worth billions of times his own weight in latinum.

"Wait, did you say how much latinum you were going to get?" Nog questioned. "Are you planning on taking all of the profits?"

"I... we... what's the difference?" Quark shot back, not trying to let on that he was tired himself. "Just shut up and keep walking because there's a cave up ahead where we can rest for a minute."

As they made it to the mouth of the dark cave, Rom took out a flashlight only to clumsily drop it to the ground. As he reached down to pick it up, another hand beat him to it and handed it to him.

"Oh thank you." he said without looking up. But when he did he let loose a scream, even as Quark and Nog started to back up themselves.

"Don't be scared." Jennifer told them, nervous herself at how she might look. "I won't hurt you. I... I just want to get off of this planet and get back to my so..." Before she could finish off her statement, Quark stunned her with his Ferengi plasma phaser. As she fell bonelessly to the ground, Quark quickly ran over and kicked at her arm to make sure she didn't move.

"Well don't just stand there!" Quark shouted in excitement as he looked to the others. "Help me get her up."

As the three of them picked up Jennifer's body and led her out of the cave, all Quark could think about before calling on his vessel to beam them up, was all of the profit he was about to make.


	17. Chapter 15 Take Care

Chapter 15

Take Care

Finally coming back into the realm of consciousness, Jennifer groggily opened up her eyes and saw a Ferengi standing over her with a phaser.

"Duhhhh... don't move." Rom ordered as he tightened his grip on his weapon.

"It's.. it's okay." Jennifer said trying to defuse the situation. "I'm not going to hurt you. Where... where are we?"

"My... my brother told me not to talk to you." he went on, eyeing her worriedly.

Closing her eyes, Jennifer thought back to what Ben had told her years ago about Ferengi males. Always try to play to their ego and their wallet. "But you're a strong male Ferengi with your own mind." Jennifer told him with a smile.

"I am?" he asked as he suddenly smiled. "That's right I am and that's why you can't try to fool me."

"Believe me I wouldn't try to." Jennifer told him. "But I just wanted to know why you captured me and where we're going?" she asked as she looked around to see that she was on a vessel.

"I shouldn't say..."

"Like I said before you're a grown man." she pressed. "Why would you need permission from somebody else just to talk to me?"

"You're right!" Rom said on the verge of shouting. "We're selling you for profit. Once we take you back to Ferenginar the doctors are going to extract your nanoprobes and we're going to sell them on the black market."

'I probably won't survive that.' Jennifer thought to himself. "About how much profit are you going to get?"

"My brother is going to give me about five percent of the profits." Rom told her with excitement.

"Five percent, that doesn't sound like much." she said with a smile of her own. "What if I made you a better deal? We could do a fifty, fifty split."

"Fifty... fifty percent of the profits?" Rom asked as his eyes got as big as saucers. "But my brother..."

"What do the Rules of Acquisition say?" she asked as she had to think about it herself. "I believe it's rule number six. Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity."

After a moment of inner debate, Rom took off the chains that were holding her and let her stand up. As he turned his back on her, she hit him across the back and watched as he crumbled uselessly to the floor.

"Here goes nothing." she said to herself as she picked up the phaser and walked out and onto the Bridge. Hating to have to do it, she saw a small child Ferengi boy and she stunned him, before the male that was piloting the vessel could even turn around, from his place at Helm, she stunned him too before quickly running over to navigational control.

Getting control over the ship, she checked the navigational controls and saw that they hadn't even made it far out of Earth's solar system yet. Pushing Quark out of his chair, she sat down and turned the ship around. Heading back towards Earth it wasn't long until she was hailed by a passing Starfleet vessel. Guessing that how she looked wouldn't go over well, she decided to do audio only.

**'Unidentified Ferengi vessel, this is Captain Myers of the USS Reliant.' **the male voice said over the comline. **'State your purpose in Federation space.'**

"That's a long conversation, Captain." Jennifer replied as tears stung at her eyes and ran down her ashen gray cheeks. "My name is Jennifer Sisko and I want to go home."

The Ares Bridge

"So tell me, what else do you know about these... Quigley Morphs?" Odo asked as he leaned against the console Seven was working on.

"All I remember was that there was a small colony of five members of your race sharing a planet called Typhreon Three in the Delta Quadrant with a race of elfish like humanoids." Seven said without stopping her work. "Since the Borg at the time couldn't assimilate your people they assimilated the people of the planet. The five Quigley Morphs fought back but not before the Borg took nearly half of the planets population. According to what the Borg got from the memories of the people they took, your people had come to the planet hundreds of years before and the pre-warp civilization revered you as Gods. It was said that there were more of your people on that planet but they went to different parts of the galaxy when the inhabitants developed space travel. The group that left were called the ..."

"Ben, sensors are picking up unusually high proton counts..." Dax said as her console started to beep.

"Set a new course to those coordinates..." Ben ordered of Tom as the ship went deeper into the belt.

Suddenly the ship lurched, a hard shift, and an incredible burst of light came through the windows and the main viewer. Without dramatic fanfare the ship went into a giant rip in the fabric of space.

"Sensors aren't functioning." Dax reported as they looked at the incredible light show as it surrounded the ship.

"Are your navigational readings going crazy?" Tom asked as he frantically checked his readings and hit panels.

"I'll recalibrate them when I get a moment." Dax replied calmly. "Did you reduce impulse power?"

"No..." Tom told her.

"Well something is making us lose velocity." Dax said as her beautiful face scrunched up in surprise. "Ben, I'm picking up an atmosphere capable of supporting life."

As soon as those words left her mouth the whole crew disappeared and Ben and Seven found themselves in an altered state of reality that was white as far as the eyes could see.

"Where the hell are we?" Ben mumbled under his breath, even though he knew Seven could hear him. "Any ideas?"

"No." Seven replied as she reached for a tricorder, only to not find one.

"They are corporeal. Physical entities." a voice said from the void.

"What... who are you?" Ben asked as a hand suddenly cupped his face and turned him around.

"The Sisko and the Scorpion must walk a new path." said Prophet Kira.

"A new path?" Sisko asked as he looked at the brightness of the Celestial Temple before looking back at Kira. "Who are you... what's happening?"

Prophet Kira then morphed into Prophet Jake.

"There must be a sense of closure in this Sisko's life." Jake told him.

"We sense that you are the Emissary of Bajor. You are of Bajor, but you will find no rest there." Prophet Odo said as he came up behind Benjamin. "The children are suffering."

"His pagh will take another path." a feminine voice said as she approached him. She was very beautiful black woman, about his height, and carried a hint of a motherly vibe about herself.

Placing a delicate hand lovingly on his cheek, he oddly wondered who this new woman was. He could have sworn he had never seen her before, but something in his mind told him different.

"And what path would that be?" Ben asked as he took her hand in his. "And what children are in danger?"

"Oh enough of this back and forth." another voice filled with self-righteousness interrupted them.

"Who are you?" Ben asked as he and Seven turned to see a man with dark hair and wearing a Starfleet uniform, watching them intently. Even though they were strangers in this new world they somehow knew that this man didn't belong.

"Come now Benjy didn't Jean Luc tell you about me?" the man replied with a smug smile as a chair materialized behind him. Taking a seat he eyed him like a fox would eye a chicken. "I'm just your everyday average... well not so average Q."

"Q?" Sisko growled out. When he and Captain Picard had met, he did mention to him about this being now standing before him. "Where are we and what have you done to my crew?"

"Your crew... your crew, you sound just like Picard." Q replied with a shake of his head as he stood to his feet. As he did so he took notice of Seven watching him. "And who might you be?"

"Q, enough!" Ben shouted, as he stood in Q's line of vision of Seven. "I'll ask you one last time. Where are we and what have you done to my crew?"

"I didn't do anything to your precious crew." Q told him honestly. "And as for where you are, I'll tell you after this dance break."

As he said that he reached around Ben and grabbed Seven by the arm. Not even knowing how he had managed to do it, but Seven's clothes had changed into that of a red cocktail dress. Before Ben could do anything, Q pulled his daughter into an easy tango.

"Dun dun.. dun dun dun dun dun." Q hummed as he used his power to make Seven dance with him.

Not being able to take Q's foolishness any longer, Ben balled up his fist and was about to punch him in the face but was shocked when Seven did it for him, sending the so called omnipotent being to the ground.

"Ow you hit me." Q said in shock as he held his face. "Beverly or Picard never hit me."

"I'm not a middle aged man." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow as her uniform flashed back on her.

"I believe it's time for you tell us what's going on." Ben added.

"It really doesn't matter what a low simple minded human believes." Q said standing his full height, as he held his sore jaw. "All you need to remember is if you ever see Jean Luc again, you tell him that the trial against humanity isn't over and you my friend have a long road ahead of you."

"The Sisko must remain until the time when he must not." said Prophet Dax who had just appeared out of no-where, unperturbed by what just happened.

"What does that mean?" Benjamin asked.

"The Scorpion and the Child will see you home." Q whispered into Sisko's ear, before putting two fingers to the captain's forehead. Without dramatic fanfare the Emissary and Seven disappeared from sight. "You know you really ought to do something about this place." Q said addressing the wormhole aliens. "It's just so dreary."

* * *

Waking up with a start in his command chair, Sisko looked around the Bridge and saw the rest of his crew coming out their own states of unconsciousness.

"Is everybody okay?" Ben asked, as the crew sent out a unanimous groan.

"What the hell just happened?" Kira asked. "I remember going into some kind of a wormhole and then I woke up here."

"We found the Celestial Temple." Ben replied with a groan.

"We what..."

"Ben you're not going to believe this." Dax said, cutting Kira off. "I just checked the Federation's time base beacon. It says that the stardate is 48315.6."

"That's impossible." Tom said as he turned to look at her. "That's almost three years into the future."

"It get's worse." Dax said as she started to type at her console. "According to these star charts we're on the edge of the Badlands."

As soon as Dax said the word Badlands, Seven's eyes glazed over and she started to type furiously at her console. Ignoring what everyone was saying around her, she struggled to get control over herself.

"Captain," Dax said as she and Valerie monitored her science console. "I'm getting some strange readings..."

"Define strange." Ben asked his Operations officer, whose hands sped across the console.

"We're being scanned by a coherent tetryon beam." she answered. "I don't know it's origins but it's being followed by a large a displacement wave..."

"I've got a bad feeling about this, old man." Ben said as he looked from her to Tom. "I hate having bad feelings. Mr. Paris, get us the hell out of here, maximum warp."

"I can't." Tom said as he typed at his console. "Somebody locked me out of Helm control."

"What?" Kira asked as she jumped to her feet.

"We're out of time anyway, Ben." Dax reported. "That wave is going to hit us in ten seconds."

"Red alert! I want those shields up Miss Archer!" Ben commanded as his eyes narrowed, wondering who had sabotaged his ship.

A sudden jerking motion threw everyone in the ship about. A plasma transfer conduit in the aft of the bridge sparked and exploded, sending piles of debris to the floor. Before Ben could give another order, his world was plunged into darkness as he hit his head on the side of the railing.

"He's coming to." Ben heard a muffled voice say, as he saw the silhouette of a woman standing over him. As his vision cleared he saw that it was his wife.

"Jennifer...?" Ben asked as he reached up from his position on the floor and gently caressed her face.

"He's fine." Holo-Jennifer said with a roll of her eyes as she slapped his hand away and stood to her feet to check on the other crew members. Dr. Bashir was on the other side of the room checking on the other bridge crew members.

His memory coming back to him, Ben remembered that they had installed holo-emitters on every deck, before standing to his feet and looking around. Seeing his crew coming out of their own daze, he looked up to Seven's station and saw Odo standing over her.

"She's the one that put the systems lock on the Helm." Odo told Sisko as he walked over to them.

"How can you be sure?" Ben asked as he looked at his girl. She had a glazed over look in her eyes and she was rocking back and forth. Even as he brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes she seemed unresponsive.

"I was standing over her shoulders when Lt. Dax reported that we were in the Badlands." Odo started. "As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Miss Sisko's hands darted across her console like a scared Tarcalian cat. Since all of you were passed out mid transport to... where ever the hell we are now, after observing her I managed to undo some of what she had done and straightened out the ship before we passed the threshold of where we were supposed to exit. I'm not an engineer so I couldn't undo the main helm control lock."

Looking past them, Ben looked at her console display and saw the words 'Main Helm locked' on it's screen, making him realize that helm could only be controlled at her station . Giving her the once over, he saw that she was in a trance, leaving him to wonder if Q had done something to her. Not having time for that inner debate, he made his decision.

"Take her to deck F." Ben told the shape-shifter. "And put her in the Brig."

"Very well." Odo replied as he grabbed Seven by the arm and led her away. With a sigh Ben turned around and saw Kira taking charge and organizing repair crews as all of his people got back to their stations.

"Dr. Bashir, I'm not sure why you're still on my ship but when you're done here go to Deck F and check on Seven!" Ben snapped as the other man ran off. "All departments I want damage reports now!"

"Captain, shields minimal, phasers and torpedoes offline," reported Valerie. "I can get them back, but engineering is saying two maybe three hours minimum."

"Mr. O'Brien, what's your status?" Ben called over the com.

**'We're still picking up the pieces 'ere, sir.'** O'Brien said as static and the sound of leaking plasma filled the channel. '**The warp engines are fluctuating and whatever that was, made sure we couldn't make a stable warp field. I can give you warp in about twenty minutes, because it looks like whatever that was, is dissipating.'**

"Do what you can Chief and report to my Ready room when you're done." Sisko replied, cutting the channel. With another sigh he walked over to Dax's Ops station, resting his arm on her console. "Now where are we old man?" he asked as the beautiful Trill started to check the stars with all known stellar configurations.

"Calculating." Dax reported, entering the commands as quickly as possible. As she tucked her hair behind her ear, she revealed a cut across her face, of which holo-Jennifer healed before moving on to her next patient. "Ben this... this can't be right."

"What is it?" Sisko asked, impatiently.

"Ben if these sensors are right we're over 70,000 light years from our last position." Dax said as they shared a look. "We're in the Delta Quadrant."

* * *

A/N I talked to an engineer that I know and we started talking about Voyager. (He's a fan too.) I asked him why was the Val Jean still relatively in the same shape as when it left the Badlands and Voyager was so messed up when it got transported over to the DQ.

He told me that the Star Trek writers aren't Engineers and just did that so Chakotay and the others could become a part of Voyagers crew later on because Janeway was going to need a replacement crew for the people who were killed. He said it could still be scientifically explained though.

He said that if you notice in the beginning of the episode that the ValJean did try to get away from the wave but they were at impulse power. When they came over the threshold and into the DQ their warp drive was at minimal power and dumped out a small amount of power through the ships systems.

As for Voyager he said they were trying to engage warp before they got hit by the wave and that was their downfall. He seems to believe that once they tried to initiate warp and leave that the controls had frozen and the power that was supposed to be used for warp came out as raw energy that went through the ships systems at the same time they passed the threshold over into the DQ and that's why the ship was damaged so heavily and why the warp drive was fluctuating so badly. I don't know about anybody else but that makes a lot of sense to me. Better some kind of explanation then not one at all.

As far as the Changelings that I described in the beginning of this chapter, no that's not the origin of them, but rather a small group of the 100 that were sent out by the Founders hundreds of years ago. As far as Q goes he's interfering in this time line because the right players are in place and he knows that if the future turns out darkly that there will be no trial against humanity. No trial means that he can't interfere with them anymore. And not being able to interfere with a Starfleet Captain isn't any fun.


	18. Chapter 16 Deeper Space pt 1

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews guys. I've decided to upload two chapters at once again, so please review both.

Chapter 16

Deeper Space pt. 1

The Ares

Ready Room

Ben, Odo, Dax, Chief O'Brien, Doctor Bashir, and Kira all sat around the huge gray table watching each other silently. It had taken at least six hours to get the ship together, after being pulled into the Delta Quadrant and luckily no one was killed.

According to Chief O'Brien if they had of tried to engage the warp engines when that wave hit, the warp drive would have initiated a cold start and dumped raw power into the ships systems. If that had of happened the ship could have either been more damaged then it already was or it could have just destroyed it all together. Ben had also told them about Q and to his surprise Chief O'Brien had told him that he had encountered him when he served on the Enterprise. Ben had already known about Q from Jean Luc, but he had forgotten that O'Brien served there.

"Chief do you have anything to report?" Ben asked, to get the meeting started. "And please make sure it's good news."

"Well the warp drive is fixed." O'Brien started as he sat back in his seat. "The ship looked worse fer wear but the damage was actually superficial and we should be done fully repairing it within the hour."

"Good... Dax?" Ben asked, hoping that she had some good news.

"I'm sorry Ben but I still don't know how we got here and where that wave came from." she reported. "But if we don't find out what's going on it's going to take almost seventy five years to get back home."

Ben had already done the math and knew how long it would take to get back home. It just sounded so much worse when someone else said it. Even after that bit of bad news, he still had to address the elephant in the room.

"Doctor Bashir?" Ben asked, dreading what he was going to say.

"The crew only suffered minor injuries but nothing serious." he started as he put a very small gray object on the table. "However when I examined Ensign Sisko I found a data node with a different time phase variant from our own."

"In plain English, Doctor." Sisko replied, less then amused.

"This data node doesn't belong in her Borg circuitry at all, Sir." Julian clarified. "It was surgically embedded in her brain and if my carbon dating scans are accurate it's from twenty to twenty five years in the future."

"What..."

"There's more, sir." Bashir said as he cut Ben off and picked up a data padd. "This data node has a user interface and has a small visual message embedded in it. It's something you really have to see."

As he loaded the node into the side of the padd, he held it up so all of the others could see. When the video kicked into life, Ben's eyes almost bugged out of his head as he saw an older version of his son.

"Dad if you're seeing this message then that means you made it to the Delta Quadrant." Future Jake started frantically, as he looked nervously over his shoulder. "This is going to be tough to hear but my group set it up to where at certain time periods Seven would be controlled by a tiny sub processor embedded in her brain. We did this so you could save the Federation. In a few more years from now you're going to encounter an alien race called the Undine... but the Borg call them Species 8472. The Borg found out a way to enter into fluidic space and they started a war with that species not knowing that they couldn't be assimilated. The Undine are xenophobic and hate anything that enters into their realm. After they got done destroying the Borg and the Delta Quadrant they came to the Alpha Quadrant and destroyed everything. They... they even destroyed Earth. Seven found out a way to hurt them but they..."

"Mr. Sisko, may I ask what you are doing?" another voice asked. Even though they couldn't see the person who spoke, the voice sounded very familiar. "It is time for Seven to have her surgery."

"I'll be right there." Jake said over his shoulder. Waiting a few moments, possibly until the other person left, Jake started to speak again. "I can't tell you all of the details because it might mess up the time line, as if it's not messed up enough. Dad there's only a hand full of us left in the future because those monsters took everything away from me... from us. Please when you're done watching this, put this node back into Seven until after you've defeated the Undine. It contains instructions on what I need her to do. I gotta go. Dad... if I never see you again I wanted you to know... I wanted you to know that I love you. Tell Seven I love her too."

And with that the message faded, leaving the group in the Ready room stunned.

"Doctor... did you examine Seven thoroughly?" Ben asked, even though all of his thoughts were going towards his son. It was breaking him that he couldn't be with him right now. But that dark future he described was even more disturbing to say the least."Do you have any clue when that surgery Jake was talking about occurred?"

"According to my data, it was nearly two years ago." Julian replied.

"How do we know this whole thing isn't fake?" Kira asked. "Isn't this where the Borg came from? The Delta Quadrant? How do we know that she didn't set this up so we could be assimilated?"

"Because if she wanted to assimilate any of you Major she would have done it some time ago." Odo spoke up before anyone else could.

"She's had many chances to assimilate us before and she's never acted on them." Ben told the group, thinking about what happened on that moon some months or more accurately some years back. "It's not in her nature to do something like that."

"But that still brings the question of how we got here." Dax said as she sat up in her seat.

**'Captain, long range sensors have detected a small vessel.'** Valerie reported over the comline. **'One humanoid life form is on board.'**

"How long until we intercept them?" Ben asked.

**'At current speed... about thirty minutes.'**

"Acknowledged." Sisko said as the comline was cut. "Hopefully we can get a few answers. Everyone get back to your posts. Doctor, you and Odo come with me."

Not knowing what post she was supposed to report to, Kira walked out to the bridge anyway and sat down in Ben's command chair. Since he had more pressing matters to attend to anyway, she knew he wouldn't mind.

Deck F

The Brig

Seven looked to the ceiling. Even though the lights had settled into a dim, steady glow, they still hurt her eyes and weren't making her headache any better. For some reason she had lost several hours out of her memory. The last grain of thought she could hold on to before waking up in the Brig was talking to Odo and then Dax telling the crew that they were in the Badlands.

Hearing the soft swish of the rooms doors opening, she looked up and saw Ben, Odo, and Doctor Bashir walking into the room.

"Fa... Captain, why am I being detained?" Seven asked with a wince as got off of her bunk.

"You mean to tell us you don't remember anything that has happened?" Odo questioned.

"No." Seven simply said as she glanced at the Changeling, before looking back to Ben.

"And you don't remember a surgery being performed on you... perhaps two years ago?" Julian asked.

"No, I do not." Seven said, not taking her eyes off of her dad. "Father what has happened to me?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Ben replied as he stepped forward and lowered the force-field. "Doctor, show her your findings."

The Bridge

"Lt. Dax, we've reached the alien vessel." Valerie said as she looked back to her senior officer, who was busy typing at her own console. "Should I call the Captain?"

"No. Hail the vessel and put it on screen." Kira ordered, as she got more comfortable in the command chair.

Looking back at Dax, who just shrugged, Valerie let out a sigh and followed orders.

"Channel open." Valerie informed her as they saw that the viewscreen from the alien vessel was covered in metal debris. After a moment someone with dark spots, mottled temple ridges and a blond mohican hair cut cleared it. Kira nearly smiled as she saw the alien because he looked simliar to a Bajoran field rat that used to run rampant on her homeworld.

"Who ever you are, I don't want any trouble." the alien told them as he finally settled his golden eyes on Kira. "And if this is about that field debris I found a few of hours ago..."

"We don't want any trouble and this isn't about any field debris." Kira cut him off. "Mister..."

"Neelix." he smiled, showing off his very sharp looking teeth. "And since you're not interested in my debris, well, I'm delighted to know you."

"I'm Major Kira Nerys..." Kira started after a moment of mulling her title around. "...of the Federation starship USS Ares."

"Well that's a very impressive title, Miss Major." Neelix told her with raised eyebrows. "I don't know what it means, but it's still very impressive."

"Mr... Neelix was it?" she asked as the alien nodded. "I needed to know if you knew about any strange anamolies or just anything strange in general happening in this area?"

"Wait. Let me guess. You were whisked away from somewhere else in the galaxy, and brought here against your will?"

"That's exactly what happened." Kira said, her voice cracking as she stood up from her chair. The other Bridge members looked up at the exchange out of curiosity. "Wait it sounds like you heard all of this before?"

" Sadly, yes." Neelix told her as he lost his smile. He could only imagine how it felt to be pulled away from your home. Then his sadness deepened as he wished that the Caretaker were around and had whisked him and his family away before his home planet was destroyed. Burying those thoughts, he decided to be as helpful as possible. "Thousands of times. Well, hundreds of times. Maybe fifty times. But the Caretaker has been bringing ships here for months now."

"The Caretaker?"

"That's what the Ocampa call him." Neelix informed her. "They live on the fifth planet in the next system. Did he kidnap members of your crew?"

"No... we've never encountered this... Caretaker before." Kira replied as she started to pace.

"That's strange." the beige colored alien told her. "Usually he brings ships right to him and sends them back."

"Do you know this area of space well, Mister Neelix?" the beautiful Bajoran asked as she sat down in her command chair.

"I am famous for knowing it and if I had time I'd help you." he replied back. "But as you can see I have so much debris for me to sort through." he said moving aside so they could see the pile of junk clustered behind him. "You'd be surprised the things of value some people abandon."

'This guy is worse then a Ferengi.' Kira thought to herself. After years of dealing with Quark, she knew when someone was trying to bargain with her. "We could compensate you for your trouble."

"Well, there's really very little that you could offer me." Neelix said as he considered. "Unless."

'Oh here it comes.' Kira thought to herself. 'I hope Sisko doesn't care about what we lose as long as we get to go home.'

"Unless of course, you had water." he said as the entire Bridge crew stared at him in awe.

"Mr. Neelix you drive a hard bargain but if you can take us to the Caretaker you can have all the water you want." Kira told him honestly.

'By the Great forest I'm thirsty.' Neelix thought to himself. "That sounds like a very reasonable arrangement."

" Good. We'll beam you over and tow your ship into our shuttle bay." Kira said as she turned to Dax. "Tell Odo what's going on and to meet me in Transporter room one to meet, Mr. Neelix."

"Ummm, excuse me." Neelix replied nervously as he brought attention back on himself. "But ummm, beamed?"

"We have technology that can instantly bring you from your ship to ours." Kira said trying to seen as sincere as possible. "It's really harmless and I use it all the time. Can we...?"

"Of course, beam away." Neelix replied as they cut communications.

"That guy really didn't want much did he?" Tom asked as he turned around.

"You did good." Dax complimented, as she looked down to Kira with appreciation.

"If you deal with a Ferengi bartender for years, dealing with a guy like him is child's play." Kira said as she got up and walked into the turbolift. "Dax you have the Bridge." and with that the lift doors closed behind her.

"Ummm... she does know that she doesn't hold any rank on this ship right?" Tom asked as he looked up to where Dax was sitting.

"We'll just go with it for now." Dax replied with a smile as she sat down in the Command chair.

* * *

Kira strode down the corridor leading to the Transporter room and saw Seven, Odo, Doctor Bashir and Sisko walking down the adjacent hallway.

"I heard you took control of the Bridge and contacted this alien in my absence?" Sisko said as the group walked through the Transporter room door.

"Hey you were busy." Kira replied with a shrug.

"Energize." Ben replied with a grin as the Transporter hummed to life. After a few seconds the alien that Kira had talked to earlier materialized on the pad. No one expected however that he would bring something with him. It was his sour smell.

"Astonishing!" Neelix replied with excitement as he checked to see that he was in one piece. "You Federations are obviously an advanced culture."

"The Federation is made up of many cultures. I'm a human." Ben said politely, even as he tried to hold his breath. "And he is a shapeshifter." he said pointing to Odo.

"Neelix." Neelix greeted as he stopped looking around. "Good to meet you!" as he said that he reached over and gave Odo a bear hug.

"Odo why don't you show, Neelix to a set of quarters?" Kira suggested as she tried to stifle her laughter, as she saw that Odo was about to blow a fuse at being touched.

"Major, I will do no such thing." Odo said gruffly with raised eyebrows as he looked to the others. "I have to regenerate." and with that he walked out of the room.

With a smile, Kira turned to Ben and then to Seven.

"I must regenerate as well." Seven said as she followed suit and walked out of the room.

"Well, Doctor when we first met, you said you wanted to be explore the frontier and meet different species." Kira started with a smile. "Well I can't think of a bigger section of space that hasn't been explored by the Federation and I can't think of a more friendly person for you to meet. Have fun. We'll be on the Bridge."

And with that, Kira and Ben walked out of the room leaving Doctor Bashir, the Transporter Ensign, and Mr. Neelix alone together.

"This is all so interesting." Neelix said, oblivious to the conversation that was before him. "What, what exactly, what exactly does all this, all this do?"

"I...I assure you, Mr. Neelix that everything in this room has a specific function." Julian started, cursing the others under his breath. The smell was unbearable. "I'm not an Engineer but I'm sure it would take one several hours to explain it all. Now lets see about finding you some quarters. Perhaps maybe you would also care for a bath."

"A... a bath?" Neelix asked in confusion. "What's that?"


	19. Chapter 17 Deeper Space pt 2

I've uploaded two chapters at once so go back a chapter and read that one and please feel free to review both.

Chapter 17

Deeper Space pt. 2

As Seven stepped out of her alcove, she felt relieved that her headache had subsided. It had only taken Doctor Bashir a few moments to install the data node back onto her brain, and he had given her medicine for the pain, but there was nothing like a few hours of regenerating.

As the cobwebs finally cleared out of her mind, she looked to the side of her alcove and her heart froze because she didn't see her little brother sitting there. Her grandfather had told her to cherish every moment of time the two spent together but she didn't realize how painful it would be for something as simple as not seeing him sitting by her alcove when she woke up from a regeneration cycle.

It was funny, because at first it had annoyed her but now... now she'd give anything to have him here by her side. And to think it was possible that she might not ever see him again or at least for another seventy five years.

'No.' she thought bitterly to herself. 'I will see Jake again and we will be happy.'

She had to admit though, that it was weird seeing him as an older man from the footage Dr. Bashir had shown her. He had looked so much like their father. Taking a look at the Dream Catcher that he had pulled out of the recycler for her, she had to admit that every since she hung it up, she hadn't had a bad dream.

**"Ensign Sisko, you're needed to the Bridge."** she heard Ben's voice say over the comline, interrupting her thoughts.

"Acknowledged." she said as she slapped at her combadge. Taking a glance at her small computer desk, she smiled at a picture of herself, Ben, Jake, and Joseph on a nice summer's day on Gilgo beach. With a nod of her head, she made a silent promise to get back to her brother and grandfather as soon as possible.

* * *

As Seven walked out onto the Bridge, she stared in awe at the massive space station that loomed before them, that was made visible by the forward viewscreen. It was impossibly bigger then a Borg cube and made her shudder to think what kinds of technology was on there that the Borg knew nothing about. Especially considering, if Neelix was telling the truth, that this station had brought them to the Delta Quadrant in a matter of minutes.

"Seven what do you make of this?" Ben asked, as he turned around and saw her walk into the room.

"I have my theories." Seven said as she walked over to where he, Odo and Kira were standing.

"Well, I'm waiting to hear them." Ben replied, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I believe this is indeed the Caretaker array, Mr. Neelix was telling us about." she started. "Many years ago the Borg encountered an array fitting this description."

"And?" Kira asked impatiently. She hated to be kept in the dark about things.

"And shortly after encountering the array all of the Borg cubes were destroyed." Seven went on. "After some time and many cubes the Borg simply... gave up trying to assimilate whatever is controlling that station."

"I bet whoever is over there really knows how to throw a party." Tom quipped.

"Ben, I've tried hailing the array three times but I haven't gotten a reply." Dax reported.

"Have you tried scanning inside of it?" he asked.

"Yes, but something is blocking us from scanning it in great detail." the Trill said as she typed into her console. "I'm not even sure if we could beam over there."

"Wait, Captain I'm picking up a small debris cluster about two thousand kilometers off our starboard bow." Valerie reported. "This is strange. I'm also picking up a Cardassian raider ion trail and another one from an unregistered ship."

"The other ship's ion trail is from a Kazon vessel, Captain." Seven reported as she walked over to Valerie's station, the other woman frowning as she did so.

"The Kazon?" Kira asked, curiously.

"Species 329." Seven clarified. "The Borg deemed them unworthy of assimilation, however they are a warrior species comparable to the Klingons or the Romulans. Little is known about them other than information gained by the Borg."

'Good at least that bitch doesn't know everything.' Valerie thought to herself.

"Hmmm, Constable bring Mr. Neelix to my Ready room." Ben said turning to Odo and snapping Valerie out of her thoughts. "Maybe he'll have some ideas."

With a nod of his head, Odo turned around and walked towards the turbolift.

Neelix's Quarters

Large jugs of water were arranged as a table centre piece and a banquet of different kinds of food from different worlds were laid out, half devoured. Steam was coming from the bathroom together with sounds that might be meant to be musical, but sounded more like a cat dying.

"Mr. Neelix?" Odo said gruffly as he walked into the room.

"Ah, Mister Shifter. Come in, come in, please." Neelix greeted warmly, from his position in the bathtub "I can hardly see you. I want to thank you for your hospitality. I must admit, I haven't had access to a food rebel er, er, replicator before."

"I'd never have imagined." Odo replied with a roll of his eyes, as he looked around the room.

"And to immerse myself in water." Neelix went on. "Oh, do you know what joy this is? No one around here wastes water in this manner. Good sand scrub, that's the best that we can hope for.

"Hmm, good for you." Odo replied sarcastically "We're in orbit of the Caretaker array and Captain Sisko needs your assistance."

"Oh!" the golden eyed alien replied, grasping how serious this all was now. "Could you hand me the, er, towel?"

Eyes blazing, Odo swore that in some way shape or form he was going to get back at Captain Sisko for making him come down here.

Ready Room

"If you will scan the large southern continent you'll find a range of extinct volcanoes." Neelix was telling Sisko, Kira, Seven and Odo as he sat in the soft Federation chair. "Follow the foothills north until you discover a dry riverbed. You'll find an encampment there."

"Do you believe these Ocampa will know how to contact the Caretaker?" Ben asked.

"It's not impossible." Neelix rushed to assure him, then he considered. "Maybe. Perhaps not. But we'll soon find out. We'll need several containers of water to bring for barter."

"Tell us about the, Kazon?" Kira asked.

"The... the Kazon?" Neelix asked, caught.

"Yeah the Kazon." Kira replied, catching on that there was something more going on. "Tell us what's going on here?"

"The... the Kazon are split up into at least fifteen, no maybe eighteen sects. One of the sects the Kazon-Ogla, control this part of the quadrant. Some have food, some have ore, some have water. They all trade and they all kill each other for it."

"And you wanted us to go down to that dead planet?" Kira asked angrily.

"They have my beloved." Neelix said as tears stung at his eyes. "They.. they made her and any Ocampa that came up from the planet's underground city into their slave. I... I wanted to try to get you to help, but I was serious when I said that maybe they can somehow contact the Caretaker for you. He is protecting them after all."

"So much for protection." Odo said with a scoff. "What kind of a higher power watches over their people who are getting oppressed and does nothing? Oh ummm, sorry Major." he said as Kira stared daggers at him.

"We are bound by the Prime Directive not to get involved with another culture's conflicts." Ben spoke up, as Neelix looked down defeated. "However, we need to find a way to talk to this, Caretaker. Here's my plan."

Ocampan Homeworld

Kazon Settlement

As Ben, Seven, Kira, Odo and Neelix beamed down to the surface of the planet, they saw people in the distance run into a building nearby. Looking down they saw the parched red clay of the land, cracked under the red sky.

"Isn't this place... quaint." Kira said to no one in particular as she grimaced at how hot it seemed on the planet.

As they got closer to the structure they saw a few groups of humanoid people with copper colored skin, with distinctive almost Klingon like ridges on their foreheads and brown hair that grew in large chunks rather than individual strands.

"My friends, it's good to see you again!" Neelix shouted with fake enthusiasm as a group of Kazon picked him up Neelix and carried him to the middle of the settlement. Before they could get to close to the rest of the away team, Ben and the others pulled their weapons.

"I wouldn't mess with these new friends of mine gentlemen!" Neelix shouted to the Kazon warriors as they put him against a wall and trained their weapons on him. "I must speak with your Maje, the ever-wise Jabin!"

"I should have you destroyed for coming back here." a big bruiser of a man said as he walked out of the building beside the group and slapped Neelix hard across the cheek.

"Very amusing." Neelix said as he spat out the dribble of blood that formed in his mouth. "I, I enjoy a joke as much as the next man. Jabin! My old friend! Water. Water, Jabin. I have water to replace all that I borrowed. Show them, Seven. Their ship has technology that makes water out of thin air!"

Seeing that the other group of people Neelix was with had their weapons raised, Jabin slowly reached over and took the bottle out of Seven's hand. Sniffing it and not smelling anything funny, he drank the entire bottle in one gulp.

"You have more?" Jabin asked, his mouth quenching with thirst

"Sisko to Ares." Ben said as he slapped at his combadge. "Energize." as he said that two large tanks filled to the brim with water appeared, prompting the other Kazon men to run over to them. "There's more where that came from Mr. Jabin. That is if you can help us."

"How can we help someone so powerful they can create water out of thin air?" the Kazon Maje asked in amazement.

"Mr. Neelix led us here suggesting we might find a people called the Ocampa." Ben said with narrowed eyes, his hand twitching on the controls of his phaser. "Do you know where they are?"

"Ocampa." Jabin spat with disgust. "She is Ocampa." he replied as a slight blonde girl, who had a black eye, almost elfish like ears, and looked as if she had been beaten, stood in the buildings doorway. Standing beside her was another figure with a chain around their waist and wrists, with a beige cloak thrown over their form. "Why would you be interested in such worthless creatures? They live only nine years. They make poor servants. We caught her when she wandered to the surface."

"To the surface?" Sisko asked, playing dumb. 'Let's just see how much he knows.' he thought to himself. "You mean they live underground?"

"The entity in space that gives them food and power also gives them sole access to the only water on this world, two miles below the surface." Jabin informed him.

"Is there a way to get to this city?" Ben asked.

" No, we tried. The entity has established some kind of subterranean barrier we can not penetrate."

"But those two got out." Kira pointed out.

"Occasionally, some of them do find their way to the surface." Jabin said as he walked towards the building. "But this one isn't an Ocampan are you?" he asked the person in the cloak as he rattled their chain. "We don't know how, but the Ocampa seal the tunnels afterwards..."

Before Jabin could get the final word out, the person in the cloak stomped on his foot and ran for it towards Ben and his group. Seeing the other Kazon warriors tense up, Ben fired his phaser at one of the water tanks, allowing Neelix and his lover to run towards them.

"Come on!" Neelix shouted as the girl ran out into his arms. Looking to Jabin, he saw that Kira had stunned him with her phaser, even as the other members of the sect ran to gather the water. "I strongly suggest you get us out of here."

"Seven to beam up." Ben said as he again slapped at his combadge and they all shimmered away.

Transporter room

"My dearest. Didn't I promise I'd save you?" Neelix asked of the woman as he kissed her softly on the lips.

"That went smoothly." Kira said with a sigh as she stepped off of the Transporter pad.

"Seven take them to..." as Ben was talking, the person in the cloak collapsed, Seven catching them before they hit the ground.

"You...?" Seven said open mouthed as she stared at the sickly, badly beaten and unconscious form of B'Elanna Torres. Before anybody could say anything, they were all whisked away and transported off of the ship.

Ocampa Homeworld

Finally coming to, Jabin shook his head roughly and stood to his feet. Trying to shake out the haze that clouded his mind, he looked around to see his men gathering up water out of a large container. With a growl he remembered what happened and took a small communicator out of his pocket.

"This is Maje Jabin to the warship Predator." Jabin said into his communicator. "Come back to the Ocampan home world and bring as many ships as possible. I have a situation."


	20. Chapter 18 Sisko's Pimp Hand

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews guys. Keep them coming. This chapter is also rated M for coarse language as outlined by this site.

Chapter 18

Sisko's Pimp Hand

The Bridge crew of the USS Ares stared incredulously as they materialized on what seemed to be farm land, complete with corn as high as eye could see. Hearing the whinny of a horse, they looked up and saw a few Palomino ponies grazing in the distance. Suddenly a door closed and they saw a middle-aged woman coming off the veranda of a big white clapperboard house carrying a tray.

"Come up here." the woman called out with a thick southern drawl. "Come on, now. My name is Aunt Adah and I have a pitcher of lemonade and some sugar cookies for you."

"What the hell is this?" Kira asked as she looked around at the seemingly new world they were in. Everyone around her took out their tricorders and started to scan the area.

"Do not believe your eyes, Major." Seven said as she picked up some readings. "We've only transported a hundred kilometers. We're inside the array and I'm detecting a Sporocystian life sign." she said as she looked up and pointed to the direction of a barn. "It's coming from that direction."

"Sir, the other woman you found on Ocampa is badly injured." Doctor Bashir said, snapping them back to the earlier situation they were in. "I can't get any proper readings on her but if we can't get her back to the ship soon... she could die."

"Stay with her doctor and do what you can." Ben told him with a sigh as he looked to Seven and saw that she was looking at the other woman with contempt. Putting a hand on her elbow, he seemed to still her hostility. "Hopefully we can get out of here soon."

"There's no indication of stable matter." Dax said as they started to walk in the direction that Seven pointed to. "All this must be some kind of holographic projection."

"Oh, you poor things. You must be tired out. Come on and sit down and rest awhile. Have a cold drink, hmm?"

"I do not have time to listen to a bunch of Hillblillies!" Ben finally snapped, having enough of being toyed with as some other holograms came out to greet them. He hoped that his hostility would make the Caretaker show himself. "I want answers damn it!"

"He can tell us what's going on. " Seven said as she walked up to an old man sitting on a bench and lightly plucking his banjo, even as the holographic people disappeared around them.

"A little Borg drone." the Caretaker said lightly as he looked up at Seven. "Have you lost your way from the Collective?"

As he asked that Seven took an involuntary step back until she bumped into her father. Seeing nothing but steeled determination in his eyes, she stepped aside and let Ben do his job as a Captain.

"Caretaker?" Ben asked as he stood beside the alien being. "Why have you brought us here?"

"Oh, because it was necessary." the Caretaker responded nonchalantly to the question that the man before him should have already known the answer to. But then he remembered that this was nothing more then a minor bipedal species. "But I haven't had time to examine you and I don't know if you have what I need. No... no time to see."

"What is it that you need?" Sisko asked, curiously. "Maybe we can help you."

"You?" the old man asked with a dry chuckle. "I've searched the galaxy with methods beyond your comprehension. No, there's nothing you can do."

"Then send us back home!" Kira demanded as she walked to the other side of Sisko. "You stranded us 70,000 light years away from home and we have no way of getting back unless you send us."

"But sending you back is terribly complicated." the old being said as his breathing started to get heavy. "Don't you understand? I don't have time. There's just no time left!"

"What were you looking for, Caretaker?" Ben demanded to know. "And why don't you have..." he stopped talking as realization donned on him. "You're dying aren't you?"

"Yes." the old man replied simply as he met Ben's gaze. " I must honour a debt that can never be repaid, but my search for a replacement has not been going well."

"Mr. Neelix told us that you'd been sending a lot of power to the Ocampa homeworld." Ben said as he started to pace. "It was something you did that turned their planet into a desert, isn't it? That was the debt that could never be repaid."

"I have to seal the Ocampan's power conduits before I'm gone." the Caretaker wheezed out. " If I don't, the Kazon will steal the water. But in a few years, when the Ocampa's energy runs out, it won't matter. They'll be forced to come to the surface and they won't be able to survive. We're explorers from another galaxy. We had no idea that our technology would be so destructive to their atmosphere. Two of us were chosen to stay behind and care for them."

"There's somebody else like you here?" Kira asked.

"Not anymore." he replied, sadly. "No, no. She went off to look for more interesting places."

"Did you ever consider allowing the Ocampa to care for themselves?" Seven suddenly asked.

"They're children." the Caretaker replied as if what she had said was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

"Children have to grow up." Ben informed him. "We're explorers too and we had to evolve and adapt without a Caretaker watching over us. We've survived racism, hatred, war, poverty. Caretaker..." Ben said as he crouched down before the alien and looked into his eyes. "...if you don't let your children grow up you're going to do more harm to them then when you devastated their planet. You'll be the one that's doomed them to their fates."

As he said that, the Caretaker's eyes widened as he realized that Ben was right. Looking up and into the crowd he smiled as he saw Kes, staring at him intently. It was almost as if she had seen her God. Looking beside her, he was shocked himself as he saw a Changeling. Before he could voice his opinion that maybe it could stay behind for awhile and watch over the Ocampa the holographic barn turned into a high-tech computer room and with an agonizing cry, he reverted back to his original form, of a giant purple blob.

As the crowd basked in the almost heavenly glow of the light the Caretaker's blobbish body was giving off, he shrank into a hand-sized brown rock. With a sigh and a look of regret, Ben bent down and picked it up.

"So what do we do now?" Dax asked. "I mean what about the things Jake said on that recording? If we go home now, in a few more years we're going to be invaded by those aliens he was talking about."

"I want you and Seven to stay behind on the array and get as much data as you can." Ben said as he nodded towards his daughter. "If anything I want options. USS Ares computer." he said as he tapped at his combadge. "Lock onto all of our combadges, except for Lt. Dax and Ensign Sisko's and start to transport us back over to the ship."

USS Ares

Ben swiftly walked onto his Bridge, Kira hot on his heels. As he sat in his command chair she sat beside him and studied him warily.

"I wanna know what you have planned." Kira demanded. "Are you going to try to send us home or not?"

"Let me make something very clear to you, Major." Sisko replied, whirling on her. "I don't have to answer to you."

"You son of a..."

"Captain, I'm picking up several ships dropping out of warp." Valerie reported. Thanks to the data that Neelix provided at least she knew what they were. "There are fourteen ships in all. Two of the lead ships are Predator type warships, as well as ten fighters, and two Kazon raiders."

"Onscreen." Ben ordered.

The Kazon vessels were brown in color and distinguished by their oblong shape, as well as a large fin descending from the underside of the ship. From the style of the ships, Ben could tell that the vessels would be much clumsier in battle and easily out maneuvered by an agile craft, like the Ares.

"Captain, to my knowledge Jabin doesn't have that many ships." Neelix spoke up, making Ben wonder when he had even gotten to the Bridge. "He must have made a deal with another Kazon sect. If so they're going in for the kill."

"Sir, the warship Predator is hailing us." Valerie spoke up.

"Put it through." Ben replied as he sat back heavily in his chair.

As the viewscreen switched from the approaching ships, Jabin's scowling face appeared.

"So we meet again." Jabin said with a sneer as he looked at Ben. "I know you know who I am but I never got your name."

"I am Benjamin Sisko, Captain of the USS Ares." Ben said coolly.

"That's good to hear." Jabin replied with a smile, that quickly faded. "I always like to know the names of my victims before I destroy them. I can look in your eyes and tell that even with all of these ships at my disposal you're still a man that won't surrender. I admire that but I want you to know that I'll take personal satisfaction out of killing you, taking your technology, and raping your ugly women." Jabin said as he beamed at the thought of that. "Especially the one that was with you on Ocampa with the metal over her eye. She'll be more then satisfactory."

"Valerie get that piece of garbage off my viewscreen!" Ben growled out as she hurriedly did as he requested. "Battle stations!" he yelled as the ship slipped into red alert. "Deploy ablative hull armor."

Predator

Maje Jabin smiled with growing excitement as the alien closed communications with him. He knew that his tactic to get underneath an enemies skin with insults would work because he had done so before and destroyed the lives of many others that had fallen for it. The only thing he hated was the fact that he had to share his spoils with First Maje Culluh of the Nistrim.

Even though the two hated each other the prize of getting this ship and whatever technology they possessed far outweighed how they felt. He smiled again as he saw his fighters approaching the small alien starship. It amazed him that over the past several months that the Caretaker had provided so many victims for his sect, but as he looked at the sleek alien hull of the ship, he knew that this was his true prize. Ships similar to it had come to this sector of space before, but they'd outrun or outfought him or simply destroyed themselves.

His greatest challenge so far had been an enemy known as the Jem 'Hadar, but in the end the enemy had ended up ramming their ship into his main warship, destroying it and themselves. Not only had Jabin lost an opportunity to gain new technology but the battle had also crippled him to the point where he had to ask for help from Culluh. Taking his thoughts off of that for now he concentrated on the task at hand because he knew that this was going to be the fight of his life.

* * *

The Ares rocked from a half dozen blasts from enemy fire. In one pass two Kazon fighters took phaser hits from below the ship and exploded on impact.

"Two enemy vessels have been destroyed, sir." Valerie reported. "And ablative hull armor is still holding at ninety five percent."

"Good." Ben said as he noticed that the two predator ships were holding position far off and away from the battle. It seemed to him that they were trying to gauge the defensive capabilities of his ship. 'If they want to know, I'll show them.' Ben thought to himself. "Valerie, arm a photon torpedo at maximum yield and fire it at position three four mark two eight."

"But sir the torpedo won't hit any ships." she replied, as she readied the torpedo anyway.

"I know how to do my job!" Ben snapped. "Fire the torpedo and detonate on my mark."

As the torpedo shot out into space, it flew with super sonic speed into the middle of the Kazon fleet. Once it got into position, Ben snapped out a "Now" and the torpedo exploded causing a massive shock wave that caused five of the vessels to ram into one another. Two of them were instantly destroyed and three others were badly disabled.

As Valerie reported that to Ben, she also smiled as she told him that four other ships had retreated from the battle field. Their victory was short lived however at what she had to tell him next.

"Both warships are moving towards our position." Valerie told the Bridge with shaky hands.

"You sound nervous, Miss Archer." Ben stated flatly. "Don't be. Now let's finish this."

After only a few more minutes of fighting, the Ares had destroyed three more vessels and their armor was only down to sixty four percent. Every time they tried to get a direct shot on Predator however another raider would get in it's way.

The Ares had been taking heavy Kazon fire from the warships for several minutes but even still Ben noticed that the Kazons didn't put together another coordinated strike, leaving him to ponder if the other ships were even taking direction from their superiors. Knowing that victory was at hand, he pushed through.

"Valerie, maintain a weapons lock on Predator." Ben ordered, as he saw a gap in the enemies defense perimeter. "Mr. Paris, initiate flight pattern Sisko one nine one six eight."

"Sir...?" Tom asked in confusion as he turned around. "I've never heard of that maneuver before."

"Get within two thousand kilometers of Predator and the other warship and rock the Ares hard." Ben instructed as he moved his hands, to indicate what he was talking about. "And when I tell you too Valerie, hit them with a volley of phaser and torpedo fire before we go to a short burst of warp."

Doing as he was instructed, Tom swiftly moved the ship between Predator and the Destroyer. In an amazing feat, as he shook the ship like Ben had ordered, the Ares spun forward on it's axis for a few seconds, before it perfectly aligned with the side of both ships, not taking damage as the enemy vessels couldn't get a positive lock on the ship. Seeing that it was time, Valerie shot a volley of concentrated shots on both vessels.

The explosion from the combined effort of the phaser hits and a well placed torpedo ripped through the side of Destroyer, blowing apart the metal alloy, flesh and bone in a blaze of energy. As the torpedo ripped through and exploded out the other side, it created a domino like effect as the reinforced bulkheads, conduits, and corridors collapsed in on themselves. Hot death was served on almost every level of the ship that the torpedo exploded through.

Predator fared no better. In one fell swoop over half of Jabin's ship was now turned into irreplaceable scrap, as it got the brunt of the Ares' attack. It was work that would take Starfleet personnel months to repair and probably even longer for the Kazon's, since they didn't possess the same level of technology the Federation had. As a power transfer conduit exploded behind the co-leader of the enemy attack, Jabin flew through the air because of the concussive force that ripped through Predator. As one of the Ares' torpedoes shot through it's hull, Kazon, both living and dead came spilling out into the inky blackness of space.

Their attack finished, the Ares warped back to their position in front of the Caretaker's array, to stand as Vanguard over it. The entire crew watched in both horror and fascination as both ships, even though heavily damaged, were still keeping themselves stabilized.

"Sir, we're being hailed." Valerie said as her initial shock wore off. "It's Predator."

"Onscreen." Ben ordered. Typing into her console, the screen filled with the angry and bloody face of Jabin.

"You've made an enemy today." Jabin simply sneered as the communications were cut. And with that both warships hit warp and blinked out of the system.

"They left their men behind." Kira said, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice at what they had just done and gotten past. She could say many things about Benjamin Sisko, but she had to admit that he was a hell of a tactician. "What should we do about them?"

"Hail them, Valerie." Ben answered, but not directly to Kira. "Tell them that we can..."

Before he could finish his statement he watched as all the remaining ships that they had disabled self destructed. They would rather kill themselves then be helped or further humiliated by their enemy.

"I guess we can cancel that order." Tom muttered to himself.

"We're being hailed by, Lt. Dax." Valerie said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "Audio only."

"Dax what do you have to report?" Ben asked as he struggled to compose himself.

**"Ben... we... we can never use the array to get back home."** Dax reported sadly, as everyone on the Bridge looked at each other in shock.

* * *

_Captain's Log Supplemental: After conferring with Dax, Chief O'Brien, and Seven we've found that the return mechanism for the Caretaker array can't be used because it needs live pure genetic material from a Sporocystian life form. Which now answers the question of why the Caretaker informed us that he didn't have time to send us back home. Most of the other technology on board the array can be used without him, but it seems that we are again out of luck because the communications array cannot be used either._

_Hearing this, Kira had a change of heart and wanted to help the Ocampa, because like hers they were an oppressed people. After telling her of the Prime Directive, she promptly informed me that she wasn't a member of Starfleet. Through Kes, she talked to the Elders of the underground Ocampan homeworld. Reaching an agreement and through information from Dax about the true capabilities of the array as to not violate the Prime Directive, Kira and the Ocampan people landed the array on the planets surface after cutting pockets into the planets surface to fit it in. With a permanent and proper home base, they now use the array's solar powered generators to resurrect a force field around the planet so it's people can now live in peace. Against my instructions, Kira also left them a few programs and simulations on how to defend themselves just in case the Kazon found out a way to break through the barrier. My gut tells me that I should have intervened because even though the Ocampa are a peaceful people, we've shifted the balance of power in this sector. Even through my inactivity in this matter and for the fact that Kira isn't with Starfleet I alone will be held responsible for these events. Nevertheless we've decided to move on and find another way home. Hopefully with the tera-quads of information we downloaded from the array we can do so faster then the seventy five years that are projected._

_On a lesser but more urgent note Doctor Bashir managed to save the life of the young woman we rescued on Ocampa. However after finding out that she was from the Alpha Quadrant and that we were with Starfleet she showed a very hostile attitude towards us, prompting me to have to throw her into the Brig. We will have to question Miss Torres at a later date because at the moment... I'm just too tired and it's been a stressful few days. I'm also worried about Seven and why she too is so hostile towards the woman. Hmmm... end log._

The Ares Bridge

"Ah, Captain!" Neelix shouted to Ben as he and Kes ran onto the Bridge, holding each others hand. "We were just coming to see you."

"We supplied your ship with water, a little medicine, and food Mr. Neelix." Ben replied with a curt nod. "It's ready to go when you are."

"Well, you see, that's what we wanted to discuss." Neelix went on nervously as he looked back at Kes and then Ben. "We'd like to go with you."

"This isn't a cruise ship, Mr. Neelix."

"Of course not." Kes spoke up. Her face and scars were now healed and her voice seemed full of life now. "We won't be passengers."

"We'd be valuable colleagues." the Talaxian added.

"Colleagues?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever you need is what I have to offer." Neelix went on, his salesmanship in full effect. "You need a guide? I'm your guide. You need supplies? I know where to procure them. I have friends among races you don't even know exist. You need a cook? Oh, you haven't lived until you've tasted my angla'bosque. It will be my job to anticipate your needs before you know you have them. And I anticipate your first need will be me."

"Captain, we both want very much to be a part of your journey." Kes said adding the final touches of the sales pitch.

"I must admit that I don't know that much about this sector of the Delta Quadrant other then a few species." Seven admitted from beside him. "And some of the star charts that we found on the Caretaker's array might be outdated. We might need Mr. Neelix's... expertise."

"All right." Ben replied with a reluctant sigh. "We have plenty of room at the moment Mr. Neelix, since we only have sixty out of the hundred that we need to run this ship." he admitted. He hated that he never got to fully staff his personnel when he was back in the Alpha Quadrant. "So you and Kes can share the room that you were in earlier."

"Oh thank you, Captain." Neelix replied with a toothy grin. "You won't regret this."

"See that I don't." Sisko said as he looked to Dax and nodded. Nodding back Dax typed in a few commands and the comline opened over the ship and Ben started to address his entire crew, even as Kira and Odo stood at attention. "I must admit to some of you it will be downright terrifying to be alone in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face, but one thing has to be made perfectly clear. In order for us all to survive we will co-exist as one crew. A Starfleet crew. I still have to pick out our command personnel to run this ship and that's a decision that I won't take lightly. That means that there is no Trill, a Changeling, a Bajoran, A Borg, or even a Talaxian way of doing things. We will follow by the rules outlined by Starfleet protocol. Even at maximum speeds, it would take seventy five years to reach the Alpha Quadrant and our families, but I'm not settling for that time frame. There's still another entity like the Caretaker out there and we'll be looking for her, wormholes, spatial rifts, or new technologies to help us. Somewhere along this voyage, we'll find a way back sooner rather then later and we'll fight tooth and nail to get there. Mister Paris, set a course for home."

"Aye, Captain." Tom told him as Dax cut the comline. "Course entered."

"Then by all means, Mr. Paris let's get out of here." Ben said as they went into warp.

* * *

As they sped off, something hung in space and watched them leave out of the system. Laying in their own course, they followed them.

A/N I know this is completely different from what everybody expected but I tried my best on this to make it different and I hope you guys enjoyed this. I also wanted everyone to know that for the most part I won't be following canon events as I've decided for the most part to do original episodes. And to the fans of this series don't fret Chakotay is still alive and will come into the picture a different way at a different time.

And about the Caretaker, I know people might be wondering why I put that bit in about using his genetic code to get home. Well I figured it's like this. I found it odd that on that episode he was talking about he didn't have enough energy to send them home and I remembered thinking to myself, dude all you have to do is stand up and push a few buttons instead of talking. Then it hit me, maybe there was something else to sending them back to the Alpha Quadrant, so that's where that part came in at. And about the array making a landing on the planet I just wanted to try something new and different and I was thinking that maybe the array could configure itself in different ways and be able to use the sides of it to make landing struts, to land on the planet. I know people are going to say that it's far-fetched but we never found out it's full capabilities. For all we know it could have been similar to that space station at Far Point from The Next Generation, I doubt it but who knows. I know people are going to gripe about it but I can't please everybody, lol. Anyway leave your reviews and let me know what you think.


	21. Chapter 19 Cold Storage

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys, keep them coming.

Chapter 19

Cold Storage

_Captain's Log supplemental: We've been in the Delta Quadrant for a few days and after talking to Dax, who was next in line to be my Commander, I've decided to make Kira my first officer. Her reaction to when I asked her to be the Commander of this ship was surprising to say the least as she laughed in my face. After calming down and seeing that I was serious and after repeating Dax's report on her, she agreed. Dax is now a Lt. Commander and is second in command of this ship and I've decided to make Valerie my OPs officer, Seven my Astrometrics Officer, and Odo my new Tactical Officer and Chief of Security. To get him up to speed on Tactical control, Valerie has agreed to train him. As for our unexpected guest B'Elanna Torres, Kira has agreed to interrogate her. Surprisingly the crew's spirits are still up, considering that we're stuck in an uncharted quadrant, but that might change if we have to endure Mr. Neelix's... fine cuisine._

"Mr. Neelix this entire meal is unacceptable!" Ben shouted, his voice echoing in the Mess Hall. "I've never tasted something so bad... so improperly seasoned."

"Ah, Captain I see you human's don't like to rough it?" Neelix replied with a sly smile.

"Roughing it is one thing but this is downright disgraceful to cooking." Ben told him with a shake of his head. "Seven I know you're busy in Astrometrics but do you think you can take over in here for a shift a day?"

"Surely the food cannot be that bad." Seven spoke up as she took the food out of Ben's hand and tasted it. Stopping on her first bite, she looked from Neelix to Ben. "I'll start on the next shift."

"Very good, Mr. Neelix with me." Ben said as the two walked out of the door.

"Your dad was really worked up." Tom replied as he walked up behind Seven. "Was the food really that bad?"

"Would you like to taste it?" Seven asked as she held up the food in her hand. It looked like a cross between a small loaf of bread and a piece of fruit.

"Ummm.. no thanks." Tom replied as he scrunched up his face in disgust. "Look I was thinking that maybe you could talk to your old man and tell him that the crew might enjoy a movie night."

"A movie night?" Seven questioned.

"Yeah, you know at least once a week the crew could get together on different shifts and watch a movie together." the pilot replied. "I mean we have to conserve energy and we only have one holodeck anyway. I can't think of a better way to conserve power then that."

"My father values your opinion as well, Tom." she told him honestly. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"I... I guess you have a point." he replied with raised eyebrows. He had to remember that his opinion mattered now. "Hey you want to get together later on tonight and watch some movies? I... I mean so we can weed out the ones that the crew might not like."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Seven asked with an uncharacteristic wide smile.

"Well... I... I guess." Tom told her as he ran a hand though his hair. He couldn't explain why but for the first time in his life he was nervous talking to a woman.

"At the end of this date would you also like to copulate?" she asked as she walked up closer to him, inches away from his face.

"What... I... I..."

"I was only joking, Tom." Seven replied with a smile as she stepped back. "My father told me I should explore the concepts of humor. Was it amusing?"

"Well it.. it certainly got my attention." he replied as his heart rate started to go down to a normal pace.

"I'm sorry but I can't go out on a... date with you tonight." she told him seriously as she looked around the Mess hall. "I have to pull half a shift on the Bridge and Commander Dax and I are still deciphering the information from the Caretaker's array, so we can plot an efficient course through the Delta Quadrant to get home. After that I must start my duties as Chef." as she said that she thought back to a conversation she had with her Grandpa on Earth. She knew that he swore to make her into a chef one day and here she was. If only he could see her now.

"Well maybe I can help you." Tom replied as he interrupted her thoughts. "I have the next shift off and I haven't made any plans."

"You're going to help me cook?" Seven asked, another smile creeping up on her beautiful face. "I doubt if you could make more then a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"You're getting better at this whole joking thing." Tom replied with a laugh.

"Who said I was joking?" she asked, with a chuckle of her own as she turned and left for the Bridge.

* * *

"I was under the impression that you would be helpful to me." Ben was saying as he and Neelix walked though one of the corridors of the ship.

"And I can be, Captain." Neelix was quick to assure, as he walked swiftly behind him. "Just give me something to work on. Anything!"

"For now I'd like you to help Kes in cargo bay two." Ben replied, thinking of something useful the man could do that would keep him out of his hair. "She's converting it into an Hydroponics garden. I believe that Doctor Bashir is helping her now."

"Doctor... Doctor Bashir you say?" Neelix asked as he started to twist angrily at the towel he was holding. "You mean that handsome young doctor that treated my Kes' wounds when we first arrived here?"

"Yes." Ben simply said as he watched Neelix's whole mood change.

'He's alone with my Kes.' the Talaxian thought to himself. "I'll go to Cargo bay two immediately, sir." Neelix said as he spun on his heel and called over his shoulder. "I won't let you down."

"What a peculiar man." Ben mumbled to himself as he continued his walk. He needed to go to the Brig to see how Kira was faring with her interrogation.

The Brig

"Now like I said before, we were trapped in an anomaly for almost three years and we have no knowledge of this faction you told us about." Kira was saying as she let out a sigh. She had been in here with this young lady for over an hour yelling and screaming and finally she'd started to make some headway.

Not only was that annoying but her new Starfleet uniform must've been designed by a Cardassian torturer. It wasn't necessarily hot but it was designed in a way to make you have to tug down on it every ten minutes. She silently wondered how Odo was fairing with his uniform, until she remembered that he was a shape-shifter and his uniform was a part of him. 'Lucky bastard.' she thought loosely to herself.

"The Maquis." B'Elanna answered Kira. "We're called the Maquis. The Federation annexed a lot of different territories and planets over to the Cardassians in the Demilitarized Zone. A lot of people were killed or lost their homes so we started the Maquis and fought back. After what those spoon heads did to Bajor you should understand that." B'Elanna said as Kira flinched at that. "Since the Federation gave up on us so easily we had to do what was needed to survive. We continued the war that they gave up on."

"Fighting hit and run, always outgunned, living on nothing but hate and adrenaline. It's not much of a life and it eats away at you so that every day a little part of you dies." Kira told B'Elanna as she paced back and forth by the Brig cell. "Look I know how it feels to have to fight for your life and do things you wished a million times you didn't have to. But we're a long way from the Alpha Quadrant and we have to stick together."

"But do you trust that guy?" B'Elanna asked, referring to Ben. "I mean he's Starfleet."

"I don't know." Kira told her honestly. "But you have to look at it this way. We don't have much of a choice." she said letting the weight of what she said sink in. "Now how did you get to the Delta Quadrant?"

"The ship that I was on, the Val Jean, was in the Badlands and we were taking heavy damage from a Cardassian warship." B'Elanna answered her honestly. "There was a coherent tetryon beam that scanned us, followed by a massive wave. We were taken to this massive array and I remember... I remember something was experimenting on us. The next thing I knew I woke up in a strange hospital with people telling me I had some kind of incurable disease. I wanted to take my chances and at least try to find my friends so I headed up towards the surface and when I got there I was attacked by the Kazon."

"When we first got here we detected two ion trails." Kira started. "One was an unknown vessel and the other one was strangely enough from a Cardassian ship."

"That had to be the, Val Jean." B'Elanna cut her off. "The Maquis stole a few Cardassian ships a few years ago so we could easily pass through their space. After awhile they found out what ships we stole and updated their registry, so we would register as Maquis raiders and convoys to other ships in the Alpha Quadrant."

Before Kira could answer, Ben walked into the room and gave Kira a nod as they quickly conversed. Nodding back, his new first officer took a step back as he approached the holding cell.

"How are you feeling today?" Ben asked of B'Elanna of who let out a growl of frustration.

"Just peachy." she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Good." Ben said honestly, even though he narrowed his eyes. "Look, Miss Torres I'll be perfectly honest and very blunt. I have to have a meeting with Diplomat Zereb in a few moments to see if he'll grant us permission to travel through his sector of space. I'll be gone for a couple of hours and in those hours I want you to make a decision. Seeing as though I can't hold you in the Brig for the next seventy five years I can either drop you off on the next M class planet with some provisions or you can stay with us and become a productive member of my crew. If you choose to stay then I have to be perfectly clear with you. You will not attack a member of my crew like that again. Luckily all Dr. Bashir received was a broken nose."

"Ha, serves him right." B'Elanna mumbled under her breath.

"This is serious, Miss Torres!" Ben spat hotly. "I can't possibly imagine what you've seen and done in your time in the Maquis but you should remember that your friends aren't here. They've either abandoned you or they've been destroyed. It's time that you start thinking about yourself right now and about your future. You're not a member of my crew but even still I'd hate to leave anyone behind, especially in an uncharted part of the galaxy. You have two hours to make up your mind." and with that he spun on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving the half Klingon half Human woman to look after him angrily.

Hitting on the force field several times, she turned around herself and sat heavily on the bunk that was in her cell. Looking up she saw that Kira was watching her with a half bemused look on her face. If only she knew that Kira was only smiling because she saw so much of herself in this girl.

"What did he mean by my crew might be dead?" B'Elanna asked after a moment of calming down.

"When I told you we detected those ion trails, we also detected a small cluster of debris by the array." Kira informed her. "We didn't have time to collect proper sensor data to see if it was an entire ship that exploded, so they might not be dead. It could've just been possible that they got attacked and had to leave. I'll be back in a few minutes with something for you to eat."

With that said Kira walked out of the room, where Ben was waiting for her in the corridor.

"So what do you think?" Ben asked as they started to walk down the hall.

"She'll come around." Kira replied, confident in her assessment. "I mean who the hell would want to be left out here alone?"

"I agree." Ben told her with a grin. "Now I have a meeting to get too. You have the ship until I get back."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to stay here and talk to B'Elanna." Kira spoke up, before he could walk away. "There's something special about her and I figure I can at least find out a little more about her crew just in case we encounter them."

"All right." Ben said with a nod. "Just let Dax know that she has the bridge."

"Hey it's only going to be two hours." Kira said as he turned around and started to walk away. "What's the worse that could happen?"

Bridge

"And just what does this button do?" Odo asked as he went to push a button at Tactical.

"Don't touch that!" Valerie shouted as she diverted his hands. Personally she didn't mind taking the OPS position or even training this guy at Tactical, but what she hated was the fact that Sisko had promoted Odo to a full Lieutenant while she was still a junior grade. "I... I mean you shouldn't touch that, sir. That button will deploy a full spread of photon torpedoes."

"What's happening?" Odo asked, as the console started to light up. Looking in confusion herself, Valerie typed at a few commands.

"It seems to be some sort of small craft floating derelict in space." Valerie reported, more to herself then anybody else.

"Onscreen." Dax commanded from her position at the command chair.

Doing as she was instructed, the main viewer showed a short distance off, and appearing very small, was an ancient looking satellite.

"Seven, are you getting any readings from it?" Dax asked.

"It is transmitting a carrier signal on a frequency similar to that of which was used on Earth centuries ago."

"Is there a message?" the Trill Commander asked.

"No." Seven said as she kept typing into her console. "Just the carrier. It's possible that it was intended for encoded computer or telemetry information. Judging from these scans this satellite is over four hundred years old."

"Hmm, four hundred years old?" Dax questioned.

"Four hundred and thirty five years old to be exact." Valerie cut in as she accessed those scanning protocols and displayed them on her console.

Unaffected by Valerie's interruption, Seven continued studying her readouts. "The power is solar... and primitive for what you'd expect. I am also detecting minimal life support."

"Could this have come from the Zotobian system?" Dax asked as she looked from Seven to Valerie. She didn't know what it was about but she definitely sensed tension coming from the two of them or more accurately from Valerie.

"There's no way of knowing without having access to their historical database." Seven reported.

"I'm so bored, I'm half tempted to beam over there." Dax loosely commented. They had standing orders from Ben to stay on the border of the Zotobian system until he got back from talking to the diplomat that was going to let them travel through their space. "But then again it's just a derelict."

"At it's current speed and heading it will enter into this systems sun and be destroyed." Seven told her.

"Sir, if you'd like I can attach a tractor beam to it." Valerie offered.

"No." Jadzia finally decided. "It's just a piece of space debris. If we weren't sitting here waiting for Ben, we wouldn't have even noticed it."

"Commander Dax, I request permission to investigate this vehicle?" Seven asked as she turned around and looked at her.

"Why?" Dax asked in confusion. "It's just a derelict."

"This ship was once a derelict as well, Commander." Seven informed her.

"I see your point." Dax said as she gave the younger woman a smile. "All right, but just be ready to beam back before Ben returns. Valerie, I want you to go with her."

"Wait one second, Commander." Odo said as he intervened in the conversation. "As the ships new Chief of Security I think it's my duty to escort Miss Sisko. Besides I think the estrogen level would be a lot lower if her and I were together."

"You have a point, Odo." Jadzia replied with a chuckle. "All right, go with her."

With that said the two exited the Bridge. As the two officers beamed onto the satellite, they looked around and saw that they were in a small control area. The equipment at one time may have seemed cutting edge but to Seven it was just as primitive as primitive could get.

'But that's the same thing I said about the Ares.' she thought to herself. Focusing on her job, she scanned the area with her tricorder, even as Odo stood beside her as calm as ever.

"This room has a minimal oxygen atmosphere." she started as she indicated a piece of equipment, which was lightly blinking. "That's an ancient solar generator and it's still operating."

"Computer, status report." Odo said aloud, only for nothing to happen. "Computer..."

"Constable, it will stand to reason that the computers of that era were not voice activated." Seven interrupted as she examined the keyboard and noticed the dials, needle machines, and guages. "The on-board computers have ceased functioning. I may be able to download this old style disk drive back on the Ares."

With a nod Odo saw a door that led to another room. Approaching it, he clearly expected it to slide open, but not to his surprise it didn't, even as he waved a hand in front of it.

"Let me guess..." Odo started with a half growl in his voice. "...the doors of that era don't slide open either?"

Not saying anything, Seven moved next to him and both officers reached down and turned a handle, physically sliding the door open.

As they moved forward into the second room, Seven's combadge suddenly chirped.

**'Dax, to Sisko. What have you found?'**

"Very little so far, Commander." Seven replied as she and Odo entered the other compartment and saw a series of crypts, lining both sides of the room.

Each was glass-covered and coffin-like in design, with a computerized panel above it. With just a glance, the ex-Borg drone saw that the panel both monitored and controlled the crypts.

Walking up to one Seven cleared away the frost to reveal a shriveled humanoid form. She grimaced as she saw it's all blackened and hideous body.

"The seal was broken and the environment has been corrupted." she reported to Odo as she moved to the next crypt. Beside her, Odo wiped the frost from a third crypt and he had found another shriveled form.

"Here's another." he said as Seven wiped away the frost from the crypt by him.

"And this one is empty." she replied as she easily lifted the cover. "It has been forced open and the occupant removed."

"Miss Sisko, take a look at this." Odo said, as Seven quickly stepped over to where he was.

Through the hole which Odo had wiped in the frost, she saw a humanoid, a woman. If she could judge her age by human years, the female appeared to be about thirty-five, attractive and unconscious.

Her facial appearance was similar to that of a Human with two eyes, a nose and a mouth, but she also possessed a swept back hairline and a slightly enlarged forehead with no eyebrows. There was also a slight ridge that ran from the hairline down the center of the forehead to the top of the nose.

"Why would someone leave their people floating in space like this?" Odo asked. "Do you think they were frozen and sent to arrive at a certain destination?"

"No." Seven said as she started to look around. "If that were the purpose, there would be evidence of a more sophisticated monitoring system. This container is designed solely for refrigeration. This vehicle should still be in orbit of the planet it came from."

Going into investigation mode Odo stood still for a moment to try to figure this out.

"These crypts were opened." he said to himself indicating the ones with the shriveled forms in them, before turning to the others. "And the occupants in these were taken. Why take some of them, destroy others, and leave her apparently untouched?" as he said the question aloud, he put a finger to his lips and pondered the situation. Something wasn't right about this.

"Perhaps they learned all they could from the others." Seven said as she interrupted his thoughts. "We may never know." with that said she moved down the line of crypts, wiping another to reveal the perfectly preserved face of a male of the same species as the woman.

**'Lieutenant Odo and Ensign Sisko, you will return to the Ares... immediately.'** they heard Dax's voice say over the comline.

"We've run into a... bit of a situation here, Commander." Odo responded. "There are people on-board. Frozen."

**'Frozen. How many?'** Dax asked, after a moment of thinking.

"Two." Seven answered. "What should I do? The vehicle has suffered severe damage. Most of the systems have failed."

**'Are you recommending they be transferred to the Ares?'** Jadzia questioned.

"I do not think we should leave them here." Seven said as she shared a look with Odo. "I think we should beam them aboard."

**'What do you think, Odo?'**

With a sigh and a grumble, the Changeling looked at Seven, of whom he knew wanted to bring these people back to the ship. With a roll of his eyes, he nodded at the girl, hoping he wasn't about to make a mistake.

"I think the most... humanitarian thing to do is to transport these people over." he responded.

**'Stand by for transport.'**

Ares Sickbay

Rubbing at his temples, Ben walked into the sickbay and let out a yawn. Diplomat Zereb and his people seemed to be a peaceful lot but man were they talkative. As he opened his eyes he looked on the medical tables and saw two humanoids covered with sheets.

"Ah, Captain you're here." Julian said as he walked swiftly out of his office.

"Dax informed me that it was urgent that you see me." Ben replied as he looked at the people again. "Who are these two?"

"These are the people from the capsule."

"Capsule?" Ben asked in surprise. "What capsule?"

"The people Seven beamed over." the doctor informed him.

"I wasn't aware she had."

"Well, she did and they were frozen." Julian said, hating to be the bearer of this news. Sometimes he thought that maybe the crew did this to him on purpose. "I thawed them."

"You what!?" Ben barked. "Who gave you permission to..."

"I didn't know what else to do, sir." Julian cut him off. "The crypts in which they had been frozen were literally falling apart. It was either that...or..."

"What's their condition?" Ben asked letting out a sigh, as he cut him off.

"Right now they are both sleeping." Julian replied as he looked down at both patients. "I gave both of them a thorough examination and neither one has any viruses or a disease that might be harmful to the crew. What 's strange however is that I've found a life form inside of the male. Given it's rate of gestation I believe it is a symbiote similar to a Trill."

"Wake her up first, doctor." Ben said as he looked at the woman. "Maybe she can tell us what's going on and if her home world is close by then we can drop them off."

Fixing up a hypospray, Julian walked over to the woman and pressed it's contents into her neck. After a few seconds the drugs took effect and she opened her eyes. As they began to focus, she looked at the two men standing over her and she was about to attempt to run, until Ben put a soft hand on her shoulder.

"It's all right." Sisko assured, trying to keep his deep voice as soft as possible. "I am Captain Benjamin Sisko and you are onboard the USS Ares. May I ask who you are?"

"I... I am Jenara." the woman replied with a husky and very sexual sounding voice. "I am Princess of Necronom IV. Why have you disturbed my slumber?"

"Well Princess Jenara the vessel you were traveling on was about to lose all power and fail." Julian explained. "If we hadn't taken you out of cryogenic stasis you would have died."

"That's impossible." Jenara said with a shake of her head. "That was a newly made vessel crafted by the finest minds on my planet. Surely it couldn't have started to fall apart after only a few weeks."

As she said that Julian and Ben gave each other a look.

"I.. I beg your Highness' pardon but... you've been in stasis for a lot longer then a few weeks." Julian told her.

"How much longer?" the beautiful alien asked.

"According to the data we received you... you've been frozen for well over four hundred years." Bashir informed her as she broke out and started crying. "And... and I'm also sorry to tell you that yourself and this gentlemen beside you are the only ones that survived."

Looking over to the other medical table a few feet away, she stood up and ran to the male of her species and grabbed his hand.

"Oh... Tanakis." she cried as she buried her head into his chest.

His own heart breaking, at what had just transpired, Ben slowly walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your loss." he told her in comfort. "The other people on the vessel with you, who were they?"

"They were members of the Royal family." Jenara said as tears stung at her eyes. "My... mother... my father, my sister and brothers."

"Who is this gentleman?" Julian asked.

"He is Tanakis, a member of my Royal Guard." Jenara explained. "He saved my life and the lives of my family."

"Princess." Ben started as to get her attention. "Please tell us what happened?"

"We... we were a peaceful people, Captain." Jenara started her story. "But even a peaceful people have their share of enemies. A clan on the western hemisphere of my planet known as the Deathwok people unleashed an army of horrible genetic monsters that terrorized the cities of my nations capital. The monsters mutated and quickly started to overwhelm the population. In a last ditch effort to secure the Royal family's safety our scientists created the time arc to make sure we survived the attack. Those beasts got so close to almost killing us all until Tanakis bravely stepped forward and gave us time to board the arc. I had no idea that he was placed on there with us."

'So basically you sacrificed your people so they could die instead of you.' Ben thought to himself. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's been over four hundred years now so who knows how your kingdom held up. I'll show you some star charts and if it's not out of our way we can take you home."

"Thank you, Captain." Jenara told him with a genuine smile. "Your people are very kind."

"Doctor I think he's been under long enough." Ben said as he nodded towards Tanakis. "Wake him up."

Before Doctor Bashir could fix up a hypo-spray, Tanakis lightly moaned.

"It looks like he's coming out of his stupor by himself." Ben commented.

"That's impossible." Julian replied as he looked at his patient in confusion. "I gave him enough sedatives to bring down an elephant, unless I used something to wake him up."

Another groan tore from Tanakis' lips as he opened his eyes and clutched the edge of the table with his hands, his knuckles whitening. In a matter of seconds his face screwed up into a mask of agony, and he trembled violently from head to toe.

"Doctor, what's wrong with him?" Ben asked as Doctor Bashir ran over with his tricorder.

Before he could even begin to take some scans, a red smear of blood blossomed on the chest of Tanakis' tunic. In a state of disbelief the group's eyes were all glued to his chest as the fabric of his tunic was ripped open and a horrible nasty little head the size of a man's fist pushed out.

The disgusting little head lunged, spurting out of his chest trailing a thick, wormlike tail, splattering fluids and blood. Tanakis slumped over in his bed, a huge hole in his chest, spouting blood, as the alien squirmed on the floor and darted to the other side of the room.

Coming out of his state of shock, Ben had to calm down himself even as he slapped at his combadge.

"Security to Sickbay!" he yelled as he looked from Bashir to Jenara, who was screaming hysterically and had jumped up on her bio-bed. "We have a situation."


	22. Chapter 20 Leftovers

A/N I just wanted you to know that this chapter is kinda dark and contains a graphic scene , so I'm rating this chapter M just in case. Also this isn't exactly a crossover with Alien but kinda like my own version of it.

Chapter 20

Leftovers

"Whew, I'm stuffed." Tom said as he and Seven walked out of the Mess Hall. Rubbing his stomach, he looked over at his counterpart with a new found appreciation. "And you said your Grandfather taught you how to cook?"

"Yes, however on most occasions I like to improvise." Seven replied with a satisfied smile.

"Well remind me to give that guy a hug when we get back to Earth." Tom said containing himself from burping in her presence. He was going to replicate some popcorn for both of them to eat as they watched a movie, but he'd had a second helping of her food and couldn't eat another bite. "I think you single-handedly saved this entire ship from Neelix's cooking."

As he said that a small security team of four ran past them in a hurry. Chancing a glance over his shoulder, Tom saw that they were all carrying phaser rifles.

"I wonder what that's all about?" Tom asked, as he and Seven stared after the group. As they got out of their sight, they heard Ben over the comline, saying that he wanted all personnel not on duty in their quarters and everybody else to their station until security cleared them.

"All right, I want you posted in front of the Mess Hall and you go further down to the end of this corridor and block it off." Odo ordered as he and two other security officers rounded the corner.

"Constable, what is going on?" Seven asked as one of his men ran around her and took his position.

"One of those people we brought aboard had some kind of alien lifeform growing inside of them." Odo informed her as he looked around. "The lifeform killed it's host and is running loose on the ship. The female, Jenara, told us that after only a couple of hours that it increases in size and is bred to be nothing but a killing machine. Our scans show that it was headed in this direction."

As he said that they all heard an audible thump, somewhere behind a wall further down the corridor. Snatching the tricorder out of the hands of the guard posted at the Mess Hall, Seven and the others slowly started to walk towards the sound of the noise.

"Hold on." Seven whispered as she looked at her readings, Odo and Tom almost stumbling into each other at her abrupt stop. "It's within four meters."

Signaling for his men, the two guards swiftly walked to where they were, phaser rifles at the ready. Taking the tricorder out of Seven's hand, Odo had the unpleasant job of approaching the source of the signal.

He moved with great care, in a half crouch, ready to leap back at any second, constantly glancing at the tracker. He didn't know the capabilities of this beast and didn't want to take any chances. The tricorder led him right up to a small hatch in the wall.

"Hmmm, clever." Odo huffed as they looked over his shoulder. In the wall, an access hatch was ripped open.

"It escaped?" Tom asked as he looked to the Changeling.

"No, you don't say?" Odo replied sarcastically. "Where does that go?"

"That one section has three outlets." Seven spoke up. "The Mess Hall, the Transporter room, and if it went far enough down it could reach deck F."

"I need security to deck F and to the Transporter room." Odo said as he slapped at his combadge. "Now we have to see about driving it out."

"Have you tried beaming it off the ship?" Tom asked.

'At least he's not completely stupid.' Odo thought to himself. "That's the first thing we tried, but we couldn't maintain a positive lock on the creature."

"What about poison gas?" Tom suggested.

"If we do that we'd have to evacuate decks E and F." Seven told him. "Plus we don't even know if poison gas will work on it."

Knowing what he had to do, Odo let out a sigh and took a wrist torch off one of his men.

"Are you crazy?" Tom asked with wide eyes. "That thing might rip you apart."

"Do you have any other ideas?" Odo asked. At Tom's blank stare he continued. "I didn't think so. I'm a changeling anyway, and if it ripped me apart I could reform. Now if it gets past me make sure to have your phasers ready."

"Will you at least take a weapon?" one of his men asked.

"I don't need one." was the Constable's reply as he disappeared through the hole.

It was completely dark in the shaft and Odo reached up and turned on his wrist torch. As the wide beam of light hit the compartment, he then slapped at his combadge.

"Can you hear me?" Odo asked.

**'Loud and clear, Sir.'** one of his security team members responded. **'And we're getting into position.'**

"All right, I'm starting now." Odo replied as he began to crawl forward into the narrow metal tunnel. He turned a corner and after a couple more tight turns, the tricorder suddenly beeped.

Hearing a hissing noise, Odo morphed his left hand into a heavy mace. He'd hate to have to resort to killing this creature but after how Jenara told him it was a heartless unfeeling monster and after what he had seen in Sickbay he probably didn't have a choice. Seeing something that was a touch of scarlet red further ahead of him, he raised up his morphed hand and stretched it quickly down the passageway, slapping the creature about what he assumed was it's head. It roared loudly in the confined tube, and Odo swore he heard claws hitting metal. It was on the move.

So to not lose it, he quickly crawled on his hands and knees and up ahead, he saw that the shaft took an abrupt downward turn. He crawled toward the down angle, then swung down with another swipe from his mace. Not hearing or feeling it connect with anything, he started descending down the steel steps. When he was nearly to the bottom, his tricorder started going crazy.

Looping his arm through a rung of the steps, he looked down at his device and his eyes widened as he saw that the creature had somehow doubled back. With a sigh of frustration, he frantically went back up the steps, hoping that it wasn't too late.

* * *

"How do you think, Odo is doing?" Tom asked as he began to pace around the hatch opening.

"I'm sure the Constable is doing everything in his power to stop this alien." Seven tried to reassure him as he continued to pace.

Looking down at his hands she saw how tightly he held onto his phaser. The sight of his fingers turning a hot shade of pink unnerved her as he clutched desperately to his weapon.

"Where is, Odo?" Doctor Bashir asked, out of breath as he ran up to them holding a padd. "I found out some more information about the creature. Hopefully it's something that can hel..."

Before he could finish his statement the metal access hatch behind him dropped down, startling the group. Before anybody could do or say anything, a red six foot monstrosity dropped down from the opening. It was ghastly beyond imagination, with an elongated cylindrical skull, a long scorpion like barbed tail and no visible eyes.

"Doc!" Tom yelled out, but it was too late.

With lightning speed it came down like an over-sized bird and grabbed Julian in it's razor sharp claws. Doctor Bashir let out a horrible scream, one that no one watching would ever forget and the thing grabbed his head in one claw and twisted it off like a man pulling the head off of a chicken. As blood started to shoot out of where his head used to be, the creature then threw it to the floor with an audible clunk.

As the security team started to blast it with their phaser rifles, the red devil clutched Bashir's body tightly against itself as it let loose a shrill hiss of pain. Throwing the body to the floor, it turned and jumped head-first back into the opening that was above it.

Seven, Tom, and the security team were left standing in shock as Doctor Bashir's headless body lay a few feet away from them, still kicking and struggling. After a moment, Odo climbed out of the bottom access hatch.

"I heard phaser fi..." those words died on his lips as he looked past the others and saw what was left of Doctor Bashir. With a grimace, he slapped at his combadge. "Captain, we have a problem."

The Brig

Kira's combadge beeped negatively as she slapped it over and over. Ben had contacted her to let her know of a situation when the comline just went dead. She had heard his announcement that there was an alien intruder onboard and she knew that she should have reported to the Bridge to see what was going on, but a security team was already put into place.

Plus she had trust in Odo that he would have everything under control in no time. Besides she was busy talking to B'Elanna and it amazed her how much the two had in common.

"I wonder what that was all about?" B'Elanna asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I don't know." Kira replied with a sigh. "Maybe I should report to the..." before she could finish her sentence, the both of them heard as phaser fire erupted in the hallway followed by screams.

As the sounds of warfare suddenly died, Kira was about to go and investigate to see what was going on, when the red alien suddenly bounded into the room, Doctor Bashir's blood still warm on it's claws as it stopped before them.

"What the fuck is that?" B'Elanna asked with wide eyes as she stood to her feet.

Not answering her question, Kira slowly walked back to her holding cell and undid the force field. Putting it on a three second delay, she jumped into the cell before the thing had time enough to attack her. With a roar of anger, it started to pound it's head over and over again against the invisible field.

Heart pounding, Kira stepped away from the field hoping to the Prophets that this thing couldn't get in. As she thought that, she suddenly saw Neelix rush into the room. Before she could issue out a warning, the thing turned and was about to pounce on Neelix until he brought up a fire extinguisher and started to blast the beast with it's super cold elements. As the alien started to flail around, it couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the room.

"Commander, are you all right?" Neelix asked as he walked over and released her from the cell.

"What the hell was that thing?" Kira asked.

"A moment ago, I thought it was just an old legend." Neelix told her, only for Kira to give him a look. "Well seeing as though it's not, it's called an Internecivus Raptus. The legend well... history goes is that they were created by the inhabitants of a planet a few light years away called Necronom IV. They were brutal killing machines and well many thought that they went extinct."

"Spare me the history lesson, Neelix!" Kira snapped as her heart rate started to go down some. "How the hell did the people of that planet stop those things?"

"Ummm... well they didn't.. not exactly." he replied. "After some time they killed so many people that the remaining governments had no choice but to drop nuclear weapons on all the borders of their lands. They ended up killing themselves, except for a small group that left the planet. Those creatures... well the ones that survived the blast didn't start dying off until the planet went into nuclear winter. There's something about the cold that makes them go crazy. That's how I knew to use this, once I heard what was on the ship." he said as he showed her the extinguisher.

"We have to get to the, Bridge." Kira told him. "Come on let's..."

"You can't leave me here!" B'Elanna shouted, as Kira turned back around to her. "Kira please."

"Come on." Kira replied as calmly as she could as she ushered her out of her cell.

Deck F

Corridor

Using it's razor sharp claws, the alien ran along the wall like some kind of sick mutated puppy. As it neared a corner, a wrecking ball shaped fist suddenly hit it upside it's head, knocking it off the wall. As it looked up, it saw Odo and two other men with phaser rifles rounding the corner it was trying to go around.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Odo asked, even though he knew the thing wasn't intelligent enough to answer him back. "You two stay back." he ordered of his men as he looked darkly at the creature. "I'll handle this."

Dodging a swipe from it's razor sharp appendage, Odo stepped forward and landed a powerful blow, from his mace to the top of it's head. As it staggered, he saw an opening and gave it a side kick to the chest. Managing to balance itself, the alien used it's tail and caught Odo from the side, knocking him hard against the wall.

His men grimaced as they saw him slide, to the floor, seemingly unconscious. With a hiss the alien crouched down low and was about to pounce on the security detail, when Odo suddenly grabbed his tail from his position on the floor.

"We still have unfinished business." Odo said with a groan, as he pulled the things tail, drawing it's attention back to him instead of his men.

Morphing his other hand into a sledge hammer, Odo let it's tail go and stood to his feet. Using all the strength he could muster, he hit the thing in the head, making it drop down to one knee. Another hit, cracked the alien's outer skull. Seeing that it was still trying to stand to it's feet, Odo gave it another whack and then another one and then another, until the thing lay on the floor in a crumpled twitching heap.

"Constable." Kira said as she, Neelix, and B'Elanna rounded the corner.

His unneeded breath coming in ragged huffs, Odo calmed himself and lowered his morphed hand of which turned back to normal. There were few things in his life that he wasn't proud of but after what this thing had done to Doctor Bashir, he had no choice in this matter. As he stepped away from the creature's body a force field suddenly erected around it.

**'Commander, can you hear me?'** Kira heard O'Brien's voice ask over the comline, snapping her out of her stupor. After all the years she had known Odo, she had never seen him so ruthless.

"Yes, I can hear you Chief." Kira replied with a sigh.

**'That alien made a mess of a few systems but I managed to repair them.'** O'Brien reported. **'It was travelin' slower this time so we managed to trap it behind a force field on your deck. Captain Sisko wants you to meet him in his Ready room so we can have a quick meeting on how to get rid of this thing.'**

Ready Room

B'Elanna, Neelix, Kes, Jenara, Seven, Odo, Dax, Chief O'Brien, Kira and Ben all sat around the conference table, going back and forth with wild theories on how to get rid of the alien they had captured. The security detail were still guarding the captured beast. Having listened to theory upon theory all of which were shot down by Jenara of whom told them that her people had tried those methods before and they didn't work. On the padd that Doctor Bashir was holding before he was killed, he found that the female creature was susceptible to the cold and if they could make it cold enough on the ship it could be subdued. All the storage unit it was in did for it was stunt it's growth but if only it were cold enough it would have killed it.

Out of all the theories they had heard, Kes' was the most naive. She wanted to see if it was possible to communicate with the alien and she had to be reminded that this thing was programmed for killing and nothing more. Jenara had told them that the only way her people had killed at least some of the beasts was to fight and kill them with bladed weapons, as energy weapons seemed to not have much effect on them.

Sisko wanted to leave that as a last option because if they dropped the force field to try to kill it, there was a possibility that it could escape. Poison didn't work and the only thing that did seem to work was the cold and Odo practically beating it to death. Even after what it did to Doctor Bashir, Ben wasn't going to ask Odo or anybody from his crew to put that burden on their soul by beating the thing to death. If it had to be done he'd do it himself.

Having come up with an answer to the problem, B'Elanna decided to speak up.

"We can use the Transporter and beam that thing into space." she said as the group stopped talking.

"That was the first thing we tried young lady." O'Brien argued. "It just doesn't work."

"That's because you tried to transport it out by normal means." B'Elanna replied, trying to keep her attitude in check from being called young lady. "I bet you haven't tried to beam it out using a skeletal lock?"

"A skeletal... what in the blue hell is that?" O'Brien asked.

"Something I just came up with." B'Elanna told him, as she put her hand on her chin and thought about the situation. "Everything has it's own genetic makeup and since we can't beam it off the ship using the old fashion method..."

"We can lock onto it's unique bone structure." O'Brien finished for her. 'Why didn't I think of that?' he thought to himself.

"Chief...?" Ben questioned.

"It can be done, sir." the Irishman replied after a moment of thinking.

"Get on it and everybody else report to their stations." Ben ordered as they started to file out of the room. "Kira, I'd also like for you to make the necessary arrangements that we discussed and find Princess Jenara and Miss Torres some quarters."

As he said that, B'Elanna turned around and gave him a look. With a curt nod of approval by him, B'Elanna gave a half smile before following the Chief to the Transporter room to help. Before standing up himself, he noticed that Seven was still sitting in her chair.

"Miss Sisko, I said dismissed." Ben said, trying to stay professional. But when Seven looked up and he saw the unshed tears well up in her eyes, the father in him kicked in. "Seven what's wrong?"

"This is... this is my fault." she stuttered. "It's happening all over again. Doctor Bashir would still be alive had it not been for me."

"No, you don't get to do that." Ben told her as he took her hand in his. "When Jennifer died I almost gave up too. There were exactly three things that stopped me from doing that. Do you know what they were?" at her confused look, he continued. "The first thing was, that I took an oath as a Starfleet officer that no matter how hard things got I would see them through to the end. The other thing was Jennifer. I didn't want her death to be in vain and I owe it to her to finish what I started. This is going to be hard to hear but we can't afford to be selfish and make this all about ourselves. Doctor Bashir died with the same beliefs that I share and with the oath of an officer of Starfleet. You can't sit here and blame yourself, because people are going to die, Seven. One day I am going to die and you have to be ready for that. You can't give up, because believe me I won't. I have a duty to get these people home. I'll give you a moment to get yourself together but after that moment I need you to focus on the job at hand. I need you. I don't want to be out here alone."

Drying away her tears and not letting herself fall into a pity party, Seven took the moment she was given and thought about her father's words. Giving Ben's hand a gentle squeeze she stood to her feet.

"I...I am ready." she told him as she placed her hands behind her back and slipped into a stoic mask that even a Vulcan would be envious of. The only sign of her previous turmoil was a slight puffiness around her eyes. She slipped into the mask so perfectly Ben wondered how many times she was actually on the verge of falling apart before, but was able to hide it with the front she was putting up now.

"Good." Ben replied as he nodded his head, even though he knew she needed to talk about this more. But now was not the time. "Now accompany me to Deck F. We have to see our visitor off."

"I'm curious." she said as they stepped out and onto the bridge. "What was the third thing that kept you in Starfleet?"

"I look damn good in a uniform." he said with a smile to lighten the mood as he tugged at the bottom of it.

With a smile herself, Seven looked over and saw Tom staring at her. Giving him a nod that she was all right, she walked into the turbolift with Ben.

Deck F

Corridor

The red skinned alien, pounded hard but still uselessly against the ships force field. Watching as Seven and Ben approached, it started to hiss and got down on all fours. Relieving Odo and his men of duty, who stood guarding the creature, Ben watched the beast with utter contempt.

"Chief, are you ready?" he asked as he touched his combadge.

**'We have a positive lock on it, sir.'** Came O'Brien's voice over the comline.

"Then by all means get this thing off of my ship." Ben said. As if sensing the hostility in his voice the creature jumped at the same time O'Brien initiated transport. As the creature free floated in space a phaser beam hit it, blowing it to pieces.

**'Kira to Sisko.'** Kira's voice came over the com. **'We're ready.'**

Torpedo Launch Bay

Later That Day

Holo-Jennifer managed to attach Dr. Bashir's head back onto his body and he seemed to look at peace inside of the torpedo shell casing. Looking on as the main Bridge crew, B'Elanna, and Jenara were assembled Ben cleared his throat and began Julian's eulogy.

"We are assembled here today to pay final respects to Doctor Julian Bashir." Ben started. "We didn't have time to get to properly know him, but I feel that he was a fine officer. We have a long journey ahead of us and it saddens me that he won't be with us. As he continues on a journey of his own, we will keep his memory alive and we will honor his memory by making sure we get home."

With a nod of his head, a young Ensign blew a whistle and closed Julian's shell casing before shooting him out into space.

"How are you holding up?" Tom asked of Seven as the people assembled started to walk out of the room.

"As well as can be expected." Seven replied as she cleared her throat. There were so many voices in her head now from the people she had helped to assimilate or destroy over the years. She was happy however that Doctor Bashir's voice wasn't there. Hopefully he had found some peace.

"Hey after what you did for me at that bar, I owe you." Tom told her as he took her hand in his. "I know I goof off all the time but if you need someone to talk..."

"I'll keep you in mind." Seven cut him off as she lightly squeezed his hand and walked out of the room.

Letting out a breath Tom watched her go and shook his head. Feeling someone looking at him, he looked over to his left and saw Ben watching him intently. As the older man nodded his head, Tom walked out of the room to catch up with his friend.

* * *

"Well you have some shoes to fill." Ben said as he turned around to look at holo-Jennifer. "Do you think you're up for the challenge?"

"You'll find that I'm perfectly capable of fulfilling Doctor Bashir's duties." she replied.

"I hope so." Ben replied, grimly. Because she was all that they had as far as medical personnel right now. "Seven and Chief O'Brien will be in Sickbay tomorrow morning to help make adjustments to your holo-matrix so you can function longer then what your program allows."

"I'll be ready." HJ told him as she walked out of the room.

"I wanted to formally apologize to you, Captain." Jenara said as she and Dax walked up. "Your people saved my life and all I've brought to you in return is death and sorrow."

"This isn't your fault, Princess." Ben assured her as he looked pointedly to Dax. He had wanted to say something more to the woman but it had already been a stressful day and he didn't want to get more worked up then he already was. "I've had a talk with Diplomat Zereb and explained to him what happened. He informed me that a quarter of your people make up the population of his home planet. It seems that after the disaster that took place on your world, sometime after you were placed on your vessel a small group of your people survived and sought refuge on his planet by making a space worthy vessel. We'll rendezvous with him shortly and you can go back to your people."

"Thank you, Captain." Jenara said again as she walked out of the room.

"I was going through Julian's things." Dax started as she handed him a padd. "You've got to see this."

"What is it?" Ben asked as he saw the stardate 50984.3 and a set of coordinates.

"It seems that Julian managed to decipher a few things from, Seven's node before he was... killed." Dax told him as she swallowed hard. It was funny because just that morning before they had encountered the satellite, she had agreed to go to lunch with him. But now... "It seems that those coordinates and that stardate have something to do with the start of our battle with species 8472."

"Are you sure?" Ben asked, uncertainly. "This is a lot of space we have to cover in a small amount of time."

"I know but according to his findings we have to make it to that point." Dax told him as he handed her back the padd.

"I've been talking to, Mr. Neelix and Seven." Ben said as he started to change the subject. "They told me how dangerous this part of space is and after what happened today..., we have to do something to prevent this from happening again."

"What are you suggesting?" Dax asked as they started to walk out of the room.

"I don't know old man." Ben said as he shook his head. "I just don't know."

A/N I wanted to show how dark and dangerous the Delta Quadrant can really be. I also know a lot of people are thinking that I just made this chapter to make Holo-Jennifer more relevant to the story but that's not entirely true This chapter also plays into a major plot point later on in the story. You'll see what I mean. Also Chakotay and the rest of the Maquis will be reintroduced in the next chapter and you'll see who Chakotay recruited since he couldn't get to Tom. Thanks for reading and again please review.


	23. Chapter 21 Of Visions and Tattoo's

A/N Thanks for the great reviews guys and I'm glad you all like where I'm going with this story. I just didn't want to do the same thing everybody else was doing and I wanted to come up with my own stuff. Also to Rono777 I'm going to keep my promise to you and write a story about what was on Jake's story My Borg Sister and Me. It'll be awhile before it's featured on here.

Chapter 21

Vision of the Man With the Tattoo

Astrometrics

Seven stared hard at the flight plan she had in mind for the Ares to take. Thanks to the Caretaker's information about this quadrant of space, they now had several viable options of different routes to take to get back home. Picking up a padd and studying it, she didn't see or hear as someone entered the room. Walking slowly, the figure placed a small bowl of strawberries on the console, she was working on making her look up sharply.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Tom said with a smile. "I checked with the ships computer and it said that you were in here for about five hours and well I thought you could use a snack."

"Thank you, Mr. Paris." Seven replied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "But I am not hungry at the moment."

"Mr. Paris?" Tom asked as he cocked his head to the side. "That's my father. Seven what's up?"

"Nothing." was all that she would say as she turned around to get back to work. Holding her from behind, Tom lightly started to whisper into her ear, even though they were alone.

"I know you still have what happened to Dr. Bashir on your mind." he whispered into her hair. "And like me and your dad told you it's not your fault. After what we shared the other night, don't shut down on me. We still have a long road ahead of us, remember?"

After the prompting from Ben, her and Tom had went to his room and started to watch a movie. Half way through it, they started talking and Tom shared with her the emotional abuse he had suffered at the hands of his father and Seven figured that's why he acted the way he did. The silliness, him acting like a pig with women. It was all a defense mechanism to keep his heart from being hurt. Since he was willing to share his most dark and intimate secrets with her, she in turn told him about the extreme guilt she felt about all of the lives she had taken and about how she felt when she saw that monster rip Doctor Bashir apart.

After those moments of revelation the two had truly bonded as friends and Tom held her in his arms until the two had fallen asleep. When he had woken up however, Seven was gone and he was almost late for his duty shift on the Bridge. After his shift was over, he asked the computer where Seven was and he used some of his replicator rations to make a bowl of strawberries before heading down to Astrometrics.

Saying what he had to say, Tom let Seven go and she turned around and stared at him. Before she could say anything, he looked over her shoulder and saw what she was working on.

"Are you sure that this is our flight trajectory?" Tom asked, as he studied Seven's terminal. "I mean doesn't it seem to be kinda... all over the place?"

"I admit that it's a very rigid series of course changes." she admitted, turning all business like. "But after mapping out the data from the Caretaker's array this is the most suitable course that we should take. In the area of space we'll be flying through in the next couple of days will shave six years off of our journey home."

"At least that array was good for something." Tom said with a sigh. "So what did you want to do tonight? I was thinking we could try the whole movie thing again, or maybe that new holodeck program I keep hearing about."

"What program?" Seven asked, as her interest was peaked.

"I don't know much about it." Tom admitted. "But I overheard some people on the Bridge call it JS Alpha. From what I hear someone just made the program a few hours ago but it's already been accessed three times already. You wanna go?"

**'Seven Sisko you're needed to Sickbay.'** they heard Holo- Jennifer's voice say over the comline.

"I'm on my way, Doctor." Seven replied as she slapped at her combadge. "I had nearly forgotten that I have to work on the Doctor's program today. Can we have a ... rain check?" she asked, thinking of something appropriate to say.

"Yeah... yeah sure." Tom replied as he looked deep into her eyes.

Grabbing her around the waist, he leaned forward and did something he had always wanted to do since he first met her, albeit for different reasons this time and gave her a soft and gentle kiss on the lips. Feeling her body go stiff he let go of her, thinking he had overstepped his bounds. Looking at her face however, he saw that she had a small grin playing at her lips. Gently touching his cheek, with her metallic hand, she walked past him, fully aware that he was watching her as she left.

Sickbay

A Few Moments Later

As Seven walked into Sickbay, she saw Holo-Jennifer standing over a series of instruments. Hearing her come in, the hologram turned around and regarded her with contempt like she did everyone else.

"Ah, Miss Sisko you're prompt." HJ said in greeting.

"Yes, Doctor." Seven replied, trying to stay cordial. "How... how are you doing today?"

"As well as any hologram can be... considering." HJ said as she turned her head.

"What do you mean?" Seven asked in confusion. "How is the crew treating you?"

"Fine if you count the way they gawk at me." HJ said in a huff as she put her arms over her chest. "There's too many men on this ship. You'd swear that they've never seen a pretty young hologram walking around before. Well I don't blame them for staring, I am pretty... but still as the ships new CMO I should be treated with more respect."

"I... I'll have a talk with the, Captain." Seven said with wide eyes, caught off guard by how the conversation was turning out.

"Why?" HJ asked as she whirled on her. "He's one of them. Every since you activated me, he's been coming down here everyday complaining of a headache. I see the way he looks at me. I've... I've even checked the ships database and he's the only Captain in Starfleet history to ever willingly want a doctor to give him an examination."

"Perhaps it's because myself and your creator made you in the image of his wife." Seven suggested, trying to stifle her laughter. But that only added fuel to the fire.

"You mean he thinks that I'm Jennifer?" she asked with wide eyes. "That's absurd. Human's shouldn't grieve this long and he's old enough to know the difference that I'm not her. We... we don't even have the same name... that is if I had a name." she stopped as she looked at Seven. "Why don't I have a name?"

"Because when we originally designed you it was only for temporary use as a doctor." Seven replied as if considering. "We never thought to give you a name."

"Well don't you think I'll need one?" HJ asked. "I'm the ships new CMO... I don't want the crew referring to me as 'hey you'."

"What about the name Erin?" Seven suggested, after a moment of thought.

"Erin... Erin." HJ repeated. "Doctor Erin... I like it. Is it from someone famous?"

"It was my mother's name." Seven replied with a sad smile.

"Well I like it anyway." Erin replied as she looked over at the ex- Borg drone. "Just don't start calling me mommy."

Resisting the urge to retort, Seven just became all business like. "I think it's best if we just start on your procedure, Doctor."

As Seven moved over to a console in the room, the door suddenly swished open and Seven frowned as she saw a figure walk into Sickbay, wearing a gold and black engineering uniform.

"State your purpose here?" Seven almost snarled.

"I'm here because Chief O'Brien is busy in Engineering." B'Elanna started with narrowed eyes. She had talked to Sisko about her expertise and it was decided that she would work in the Engineering department on a trial basis. She had practically drooled when she had seen the rest of the Borg modified ship, it's bio-neural interface, and it's warp core. She also hated to admit that the woman before her had done a good job redesigning this ship. "So he sent me up here to help. What's your problem anyway?"

"You don't remember me do you?" Seven asked darkly, as she put down the piece of equipment she was using and slowly approached the half Klingon woman.

"Yeah you're the bitch that tried to take over the Alpha Quadrant a few years ago." B'Elanna said hotly, not backing down as the taller woman walked towards her. "If you think you and your Borg friends losing at the battle of Wolf 359 was something, you keep walking towards me and you'll really see something happen."

Unfazed by her remark, Seven stood her full height over B'Elanna and said with the clearest voice that she could muster. "We met on Gilgo Beach several years ago. You spilled a drink on my bathing suit."

"Was it your favorite piece of swim wear or something?" B'Elanna asked, vaguely remembering seeing her before they made it to the Delta Quadrant. "Just get over it and replicate another one."

"You made me break my promise to my father and take my eyes off of my little brother." Seven replied as B'Elanna could do nothing but close her mouth. "He almost drowned because of you. We're going to be out here for awhile. See that you stay out of my way." with that said Seven brushed past her and walked out of the room, leaving Erin and B'Elanna in stunned silence.

"And I thought, Klingons were hard to get along with." Erin commented as B'Elanna gave her a look.

The Bridge

Kira let out a chuckle at a joke that Ben had just told her. She had given him a chance and for now he seemed to be an all right guy. A little too uptight at times but all right nonetheless. With a smile she watched as Kes walked out onto the Bridge carrying a pot of coffee and a tray with several cups on it.

"Neelix thought that you all could use a cup of coffee." Kes said with a smile as Kira took a cup off of the tray.

"Mr. Neelix made this?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow, even though he took a cup. He could have sworn he told him not to go into the Mess Hall again, unless he were looking for a meal.

"Yes, Captain." Kes said as she started to pour some in his cup. "The recipe was in the Starfleet database. It's called raktajino."

"Well here goes nothing." Kira said as she blew at the Klingon brew and took a sip. With a shocked expression on her face, she looked over at Ben. "This is actually pretty good."

Not believing it, Ben took a sip of it himself. To his surprise she was right. Seeing the pleased look on Ben's face, Kes couldn't help but smile.

"I'll tell Neelix that you..." she stopped talking as she dropped the coffee pot and the tray and clutched her head in pain.

"Kes, are you all right?" Ben asked as he placed his cup on the ground and quickly stood up to catch her as she fell. Seeing that her eyes started to roll into the back of her head, he slapped at his combadge. "We have a medical emergency on the Bridge."

"She's coming out of it." Kira said as Kes, stopped shaking and opened her eyes.

"Captain." she said weakly as she started to stand to her feet.

"Take it easy." Ben replied as she helped her up.

"I...I saw something, Captain." Kes said as she swallowed hard.

"What you mean like a vision?" Kira asked.

"Yes... yes that's exactly what it was." she said as a tear stung at her eyes. "I saw these horrible creatures on a blue planet. Their skin looked like they were decaying and then I saw this man with a strange tattoo on his face. He was screaming and in so much pain."

"A tattoo on his face?" Valerie asked as she looked from Kes to Ben. "Captain could she be talking about, Chakotay?"

"Chakotay?" Kira asked as she stopped to think. "Isn't that B'Elanna's Captain from the Val Jean?"

Putting his face in the palms of his hands, Sisko let out a sigh. He had just had a meeting with Kira a couple of days ago about proper Starfleet protocol and he didn't even read her report that she had left on his desk about the details of B'Elanna's interrogation. Before he tapped at his combadge, to call B'Elanna to the Bridge, he idly wondered how Seven would take the news of possibly seeing Chakotay again. What was worse, he couldn't imagine what the younger man had gotten himself into, in this Godforsaken quadrant.

* * *

Sickbay

"Hmm." Erin said as she scanned Kes with her medical tricorder. "Hmm, hmm."

"What?" Neelix asked nervously. If anything were to happen to his beloved...

"Hmm?" Erin said again.

"Is something wrong?" Neelix asked, losing his patience.

"Yes, terribly wrong." Erin replied as she snapped her tricorder closed and turned to Kes. "Your brain is not on file. Either your government failed to transmit the standard fifteen five oh one crew personnel report or somebody at Starfleet Medical really fouled up."

"I'm not a member of the Starfleet crew." Kes said politely.

"We came aboard at mid-expedition." Neelix added.

"And no one asked you for your medical histories when you arrived?" Doctor Erin asked as she thought about it for a second. "I guess Doctor Bashir didn't have time to do it before he was killed. Still someone could have bothered to tell me about new passengers, but I seem to be just about the last to know about everything around here. So, tell me, just how many other new arrivals are there?"

"Just us." Neelix replied as he calmed down. Maybe nothing was wrong with his Kes after all. Well at least the doctor didn't seem too worried. But still he needed to know. "Can you still tell us about her condition?"

"She is the healthiest member of her species I've ever seen." Erin answered honestly. "The only member of her species I've ever seen. You have a lovely brain. It will make a fine addition to our files. I wouldn't worry. If your species has a history of extraordinary mental abilities, this may simply be your way of flexing those muscles for the first time. Living in space requires the body to make a variety of biological adjustments. This could be a side-effect of that process. Go home. Get a good night's sleep and drink plenty of fluids."

"Fluids?" Kes asked with raised eyebrows.

"Everybody should drink plenty of fluids." Erin told her as Kes' eyes stared to roll in the back of her head.

"Doctor what's wrong with her!" Neelix shouted as he helped to lower Kes on the bio-bed.

"I don't know." the Doctor answered as she started to open her tricorder again. As soon as it snapped open, Kes popped up out of the bed and looked from Neelix to Erin.

"How are you feeling?" Neelix asked, even as she jumped off of the bed.

"I... I need to talk to the, Captain." Kes replied as she walked towards the door. "I just saw a crash."

Another Part of Space

A pretty blue planet seemed to shoot out of the blackness of space and exploded onto the Val Jean's view-screen as Ro Laren dropped the old raider out of warp.

"I see an alien vessel on my scans!" Seska shouted over the hiss of plasma, from a conduit that blew out a few feet behind her. "It's the same one that attacked us and it's coming fast. It's dropping out of warp, now!"

"On screen," Chakotay ordered, nervously.

The ship had already been through so much after being in the Delta Quadrant and he didn't know how much more it could take. What made everything worse was, he didn't have B'Elanna around to fix anything. Ro was doing the best she could in Engineering but she just wasn't good enough. It saddened him that B'Elanna was just another victim that the Delta Quadrant had taken away from him, especially since he had brought her into the fold.

Pushing his guilt aside, he looked up as Seska switched to the aft viewer. With a gulp he saw a massive brown starship appear on screen. He didn't know why they attacked, but he knew in his heart of hearts that there was no way they could take them.

"Sir, we're being hailed by the ship." Tuvok said as he typed into his console.

'Finally maybe we caught a break.' Chakotay thought to himself. "Put them onscreen."

As Chakotay ordered that, he and the other members of the crew instantly wished that he hadn't. On the other side of the screen they saw what they assumed was a male. He was hideous in appearance, his body consisting of a humanoid amalgamation of alien parts at different stages of decay.

"Drop your shields and prepare to be boarded." the alien ordered.

"I want to know why you fired on us?" Chakotay asked. "We mean you no harm... we..."

"You were warned." the Frankenstein reject said coldly as he cut communications.

The crew, with the exception of Tuvok, was so wound up at the creature's appearance and their attack, that they nearly jumped out of her seats when energy pulses bounced hard off the shields.

"They're firing hypothermic charges at us." Tuvok told them calmly. "Seska, what are you picking up on your station?"

"I'm not picking up anything." she informed him. "Sensors aren't responding."

"You can forget the sensors!" Ro yelled as they started to pound the ship with another barrage of weapons fire. "They're done for now, but I'm working on them!"

"The shields are down to forty percent and the hull stress is exceeding safety margins!" Hogan shouted over to Chakotay. "But Ro managed to get partial sensors back."

"Try to keep us moving." Tuvok said to Hogan with a raised eyebrow as he keyed into his station. "Bring us across their bow. That's where their weapons array is located."

Doing as he was instructed the Val Jean dropped and went under the alien vessel, but was unprepared as they ran right into a ring of energy blasts. The Val Jean's shields flickered like a firefly at night, rapidly eroding away and losing energy. Getting into position the old raider's phasers flashed uselessly against the alien ships reinforced shields.

"Go to warp!" Seska yelled out, seeing that the attack was useless.

"We can't." Ro announced as she and Chakotay shared a look. "That last hit took out the warp drive."

Suddenly the ship lurched violently as a pair of magnetized hooks, from the vessel looming above them hooked on to the hull.

"What the hell was that?" Chakotay asked to no one in particular.

"They have broken through our shields and have attached a set of magnetic grappling hooks to our hull." Tuvok told him.

"Tuvok, I can give you three shots from our phasers at full strength." Ro said as she desperately typed at her console.

"Is that going to be enough power to do any real damage?" Chakotay asked. "Can you target those hooks?"

"Not at this range." Tuvok replied, with another raised eyebrow. "We'd breach the upper hull."

"Reverse the hull polarity." Chakotay ordered. "Maybe we can shake them loose."

As he said that, Seska did as he commanded and even though the ship lurched even more violently, the hooks started to shake away from the ship.

"We're breaking free." Seska reported with a smile.

"Chakotay, they're trying to lock onto us with a tractor beam." Hogan told him.

"Reverse thrusters." Chakotay said as his knuckles began to turn white from holding onto the armrest of his chair nervously. "Full power."

"That could tear the hull apart." Hogan reported.

"Then tear it apart!" Chakotay roared. "Mr. Tuvok, see if you can give them a full spread of photon torpedoes, at full power." he went on as he looked at the brown ship onscreen. "When you're ready, fire!"

When the torpedoes hit the ship, the crew watched with fascination as five of them hit the massive alien ship dead on. As one they looked over to the Vulcan for his report.

"Minimal damage was done to their forward shield array." Tuvok said with a raised eyebrow as he looked down to Chakotay. "They are still pursuing us."

Running out of options, Chakotay could do the only thing he could think of. "Mr. Hogan take us into the atmosphere of that planet."

"Sir?" Hogan asked, with confusion as he turned around and looked at his captain.

"You heard me, Mr. Hogan." Chakotay said, hoping this would work like it did a year ago when they had to run from a Cardassian warship. "Take us into the atmosphere and hold us into a position in the upper hemisphere of the southern pole. Hopefully that will mask us from their sensors. Ro I want those shields back up and I want the warp core fixed."

As they started to follow his orders, the Val Jean plunged into the blue planet's atmosphere, hypothermic charges closing in on their position. Before Hogan could move them out of the way, the blast hit the back of the ship, sending a concussive wave through the vessel. His console overloading, Hogan was thrown out of his seat, at the Helm.

"That hit knocked out propulsion and a warp nacelle." Seska reported, as Chakotay ran over to Hogan and checked his pulse. Finding one, he let out a sigh of relief. "We only have a minute of cruising velocity before we have to abandon ship or return to space."

With nobody at helm control, the ship pitched forward, the ground of the planet coming up impossibly fast. With a wince, Chakotay bolted forward, and with one arm cleared the debris off the console and the seat, before taking helm control himself. The Val Jean bucked and shook like a bull as he tried to get it stable again.

Chakotay would never understand how it happened but with foreign instincts he managed to dodge a blast from the other ship. The energy blast still exploded on the side of the ship and even though his swerve saved them from the worst of it, they still took enough damage to knock out their shields forever. There was a crash and another explosion and without warning the Val Jean was tumbling faster down to the planet.

"Antimatter containment failure!" Ro screamed, her beautiful Bajoran features distorting. "Ejecting the warp core and antimatter pods!"

And with that, the Val Jean lost power for the last and final time. With a cry of outrage Chakotay and his crew could only hold on as the ship plunged nose first towards the planets surface.

A/N If you like what you're reading please review...


	24. Chapter 22 Body Parts

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys and I'm sorry about the cliffhangers but they just happen that way. lol. As far as Erin I'm having fun with how her personality is but it might be slightly altered in future chapters. As far as Seska.. well keep reading and in future chapters she's going to get what's coming to her. lol

Chapter 22

Body Parts

Through the flames and the twisted metal of the wreck, Chakotay and some of his crew started to crawl out of the openings of what was left of the ship. Letting out a groan, Chakotay reached into his ship and took on the full weight of the unconscious Hogan.

"I will carry him." Tuvok offered, as he walked beside his Captain.

"That's all right, Tuvok." Chakotay replied as he readjusted his grip on his injured comrade. He had to admit that he'd had his doubts about the Vulcan when they first met but over the last year or so, he quickly became a trusted ally. "I got him. Just keep us covered in case those things decide to show up. Find Ayala and Seska. Have them and the others gather provisions and whatever equipment that's still useful."

"Yes sir." Tuvok replied with a nod as he moved off to find the others.

"We... we're still alive?" Hogan asked as he slowly came back to consciousness and looked at his commanding officer.

"Just barely." Chakotay replied with a forced smile. Honestly he didn't know how long even that pronouncement would hold up. At least with the Val Jean they had a fighting chance in this unexplored quadrant, but now...

Everybody stopping in their tracks, the Maquis heard the unmistakable hum of a space craft. Looking up towards the sky, Chakotay's eyes widened as he saw a small scout ship floating in the air a hundred yards away from them. Heart thundering, he looked off into the distance of the jungle, he saw a series of caves.

"Everybody take what you can carry!" Chakotay yelled out urgently so his crew could hear him. "We have to make it to those caves!"

The Ares

Ready Room

Ben stared across the table at his daughter, who looked back at him as stoically as ever. Tapping his fingers on his desk, he lost the staring contest and decided to address the situation at hand.

"Care to explain?" Ben asked.

"Exactly what should I explain to you, Captain?" Seven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I want you to explain to me why I've been hearing rumors about you threatening, Miss Torres?" Ben asked. "She wouldn't come forward and confirm it but I wanted to hear from you if anything was going on."

"It is a matter between myself and Miss Torres." Seven replied, stiffly. "I assure you that I will not let it effect my duties again."

"See that it doesn't." Ben told her flatly. He couldn't afford to treat her like a child anymore or make it seem that he favored her over anybody else. She was a Starfleet officer and it was time for him to start treating her like one. "Dismissed."

With a nod, Seven stood to her feet and walked towards the door. Letting out a sigh, Ben cleared his throat and got her attention.

"There is another matter that we need to discuss." Ben said as he stood to his feet. "I was consulting with Kira and she informed me that B'Elanna's Maquis Captain was Cha..."

'**Captain you're needed to the Bridge.'** Dax's voice cut him off, over the comline.

"Acknowledged." Ben said as he walked towards the door. "Join me on the Bridge."

Placing a hand on the small of her back, Ben led her to the other vacant seat on the command level. Seeing him coming, Kira got up and sat down on the other side of him. Before he sat down he smiled as he saw Kes standing on the other side of Dax.

"Report." Sisko ordered.

"Ben, we picked up the remnants of that Cardassian ion trail that we found when we first arrived in the Delta Quadrant." Dax told him. "I've scanned the planet we've come to and I've found a large section of field debris on it's surface."

"Are you detecting any life signs?" Kira asked.

"I'm picking up several bio-signs of different species from the Alpha Quadrant and ten more from an unknown alien species." Dax informed them. "Ben, I'm also detecting a ship approximately 210 meters hovering over the planet, with five life-forms onboard."

"Onscreen." Ben said as Seven sat up in her chair. "Have they detected us yet?"

"No, sir." Dax told him.

"Captain, that's the planet I saw in my vision." Kes spoke up. 'It's also the same one I saw that man screaming on.' she silently added.

"Captain, that ship belongs to species 275." Seven reported. "They are known as the Vidiians. Several centuries ago their civilization was infected with some form of virus called the Phage. The virus mutates so often that it eats away at their DNA and their organs, resulting in them having to harvest organs from other species."

"Wouldn't organs from other races be incompatible with theirs?' Dax asked with a grimace.

"It would stand to reason that their medical techniques are far superior when compared to those of Starfleet." Seven added. At everyone's look she went on. "The Borg lost interest in them when they saw them in different stages of decay. They theorized that they would be extinct within a couple of generations after they discovered them. It was decided that they would not add to their perfection."

"Let me guess..." Ben started as he sat up in his chair. "... this disease doesn't effect other cultures, just these Vidiians?"

"Yes." Seven said as she gave him a look. "How did you..."

"I majored in history when I was in the Academy." Ben replied as he cut her off. "In different parts of Earth's history, several parts of government created viruses and diseases to wipe out different races of people. What happened to the Vidiians sounds like an enemy of theirs had the same idea."

"Are we going to help, Chakotay or not?" Kira asked, getting Seven and Tom's attention. "Technically this isn't our fight."

"But it is our moral obligation." Ben said as he stood up and looked to Dax. "Old man, can you beam Chakotay and his crew to the ship?"

"No. I think they're located in a series of caves located on the southern hemisphere." Dax answered as she typed into her console. "The caves are embedded with enriched mineral deposits that won't allow me to get a positive lock on them. If we could use pattern enhancers then we could beam all of them onboard at once."

"Constable, I'd like for you to put together an away team." Sisko said as he looked to Odo. "I'd like for you to retrieve Chakotay and his crew and report back as much as you can. Dax is going to beam you down as close to that caving network as possible. If you encounter these Vidiians do whatever it takes to make sure your away team stays safe."

"Yes, sir." Odo said as he turned to the woman who was training him. "Valerie, you're with me." he said as the two started to leave. As they got in front of the turbolift, Seven stood up and walked towards them.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Ben asked, as he grabbed her arm.

"I'm going to accompany Odo to the surface." Seven simply replied.

"Not without authorization from me." Ben replied. "And I'm not going to give it to you because I don't see a need for an Astrometrics officer on this away mission."

"I'm the only one onboard that knows anything further about the Vidiians." Seven lied. Truth be told she had already told them the extent of what she knew about them. "You will need me down there."

Going against his instinct, Sisko let go of her arm and she joined Odo and Valerie at the turbolift.

"Sir, permission to join the away team?" Tom asked as he stood to his feet and walked towards him.

"Permission denied." Ben replied with a frown. At Tom's look, he went on. "If our encounter with the Vidiians goes sour, then I want my best man at the Helm to get us the hell out of here."

Planet Meat

A Cave

Her forehead and hands dripping with sweat, Seska gripped her phaser seemingly tighter by the second as she stared out of the mouth of the cave her and the other members of the Maquis had sought refuge in. In only an hour she had heard so many screams and had seen so many deaths as she and the others made a mad dash for shelter.

The moment she had stepped foot in the cave, she immediately turned around and aimed her weapon through the opening. She silently hoped that one of those monsters would show up, so she could blow it's ugly head off.

"Have any of the others made it?" Chakotay asked from behind her, making her jump.

"By the Prophets, Chakotay!" Seska snapped, as she wiped a bead of sweat from her wrinkled nose. "I could have shot you."

"I'm sorry." Chakotay replied with a sigh, as he kneeled down beside her and aimed his weapon outside. "How many of us do you think those things might have taken?"

"There's only thirty of us here." she replied, mulling the numbers around in her head. "I saw... I saw several people get taken down and at least five people died in the crash. So we lost twenty."

"Does it sound morbid to say that the people who died in the crash were the lucky ones?" Chakotay asked with a grimace.

The people he was forced to leave behind, fought valiantly, but in the end they were just overwhelmed by the enemy, even though they came at them in lesser numbers. He wouldn't dare tell Seska that when he had seen Lon Suder and Michael Jonas get shot with one of the alien weapons, that he had witnessed some of their organs go into a black bag the alien was holding.

"Chakotay we saw some figures coming over the hill." Ro said as she and Tuvok walked into the cave.

"Did you get a visual?" Chakotay asked as his heart started to race.

"No, however they are moving fast and towards our position." Tuvok told him.

"Everybody that has a phaser, get into position!" Chakotay yelled out. Taking a quick glance around, he saw ten of his people, getting into various positions around the cave.

Seeing a silhouette on a rock facing leading towards the cave, Chakotay was the first to fire his weapon. His eyes went up in shock, however as he heard a string of Klingon curses.

"Who the hell tried to shoot me?" he heard a familiar voice ask.

"B'Elanna...?" Chakotay asked in confusion. "Everybody put their phasers down!"

After a minute, Chakotay and the others saw as B'Elanna Torres slowly walked into the mouth of the cave.

"All right, who the hell tried to shoot me?" she asked as she looked around the cave with a scowl, even as a smile tried to play at her lips.

"B'Elanna... I... we thought you were dead?" Chakotay asked as they gave each other a hug.

"Well that's reassuring." she replied as she looked around and saw what was left of the Maquis. "To tell the truth I thought the same of you guys."

"How did you get here?" Ro asked, as B'Elanna hugged her and Seska. At that very moment her question was answered as she saw about five Starfleet officers walk into the cave.

Mouth wide open, the room almost erupted into violence until B'Elanna stood in between them.

"Wait, these guys are with me." B'Elanna told her friends.

"You're working with Starfleet now?" Seska snarled, her thumb twitching over the button on her phaser.

"It's a long story." B'Elanna replied as she let out a sigh.

"Seven...?" Chakotay asked, as he saw her in the crowd and lowered his phaser.

"Seven..." Seska mumbled under her breath, as she saw Chakotay walk towards the tall blond. 'So this is the bitch that has Chakotay's heart?' she thought to herself. She had tried to be with Chakotay so many times but he had denied her, saying that he was still in love with someone else. They had a fling once, but now she knew that, that was only because he had heard that this woman and her crew had been lost in space. After that one night, he seemed to not want to be with her anymore, but at least now she knew why. If it wasn't for B'Elanna she'd never know that the person he was talking about was named, Seven.

"Chakotay, I'm happy that you're alive." Valerie said as she threw her arms around his neck, before he could reach Seven. With a surprised look on his face, he hugged the woman back warmly, even as he looked up towards Seven.

"I'm happy to see you too." Chakotay replied, with his first real smile of the day. Flashing that same smile towards Seven, she turned her head and looked away. Even though it was brief, he still saw that she had a look of relief on her face, that he was okay.

"If this little reunion is over then I suggest we leave this place." Odo spoke up as he nodded to two of his men, who started to put up some pattern enhancers.

"Leave?" Ro asked. "Who the hell said we wanted to leave with you?"

"If you're worried about your crimes in the Alpha Quadrant, it's going to take us seventy five years to get back there." Odo replied, giving her a look. "So consider yourself pardoned by the United Federation of Planets. And considering your predicament where the hell else are you going to go?"

"Of course we're leaving with them." Chakotay spoke up as he became all business. "Quite frankly I don't care who rescues us. Some of our people are injured and I'd do anything not to face what's out there again."

"I don't think you have much of a choice." Valerie said as she glanced at the readings on her tricorder. "I'm detecting eight... no ten alien lifesigns coming this way."

Seeing that his men had put the pattern enhancers in place, Odo quickly smacked at his combadge. "Captain, we're in place."

'**We've run into a problem, Constable.'** Sisko said as they heard an explosion in the background. **'Standby for transport.'** And with that the comline went dead.

"Here they come!" Valerie shouted as she and the others took out their phasers.

The appearance of the aliens took everyone by surprise, even the ones who had already seen them. They looked like they were constructed from bits and pieces, like Frankenstein's poor monster. Wearing all black, only heightened they're deathly appearance.

Seeing that Odo was closet to the opening of the cave, one of the Vidiians shot him and stared open mouthed as nothing happened. With a roll of his eyes, Odo morphed his hand into a giant fist and knocked him out with one punch. Hearing an exchange of phaser fire, Odo looked up to see Valerie and Seska shoot one of the aliens and take it off of it's feet.

As they saw that the prey had now become the predator, the other Vidiians turned and quickly fled out of the cave, not before one of them punched Seska in the face, knocking her to the ground and putting a deep cut on her forehead. Since Chakotay was standing next to her, she had pushed him over as well making him scream out as he hit his elbow on a rock. Accepting her hand, Valerie helped Seska to her feet, before both of them helped Chakotay. Resisting the urge to run forward and check on Chakotay, Seven used her tricorder and bent down over the downed Vidiian that Valerie and Seska shot, before frowning.

"He's dead." she announced as Odo let out a huff.

"Given the way he looks, he should have been dead years ago." Odo grumbled, even as his combadge beeped. "Odo here."

**'Constable we were in a little skirmish with the Vidiians but we disabled their ship.'** Sisko informed him. '**Get into position and be prepared to be beamed aboard.'**

"Acknowledged." Odo replied as he looked down at the two figures on the ground. "I'll also be bringing up a couple of... guests."

The Ares

Brig

Groggily coming out of his stupor, the Vidiian officer looked up and through a force field to see a dark skinned alien and the man that knocked him out, staring at him. Jumping off the cot with a start, he slowly walked towards them.

"Who are you?" Ben asked, a snarl creeping into his voice.

"I'm Zeroth, of the Vidiian Sodality." Seroth introduced himself. "I know my appearance is..."

"We already know about your people." Ben cut him off. "Even after what you've done today, I've decided to let you go. But before I let you board your ship, I want you to spread a message to your people. If you ever..."

**'Captain, you're needed to Sickbay.'** Erin said over the comline.

"I'm in the middle of something, Doctor." Ben replied with a roll of his eyes.

**'Well I wouldn't contact you if it wasn't important, Captain.'** Erin told him with a hint of a whine in her voice. **'And please bring our visitor with you. This concerns him as well.'** she said making Odo and Ben look at each other.

Sickbay

As Ben, Odo, and Zeroth walked into Sickbay they saw Doctor Erin doing scans on the dead Vidiian they had brought aboard.

"You wanted to see us, doctor?" Ben asked.

"Yes Captain." Erin replied with a wide smile. "After doing a quick surgery on one of the crew members from the Maquis and healing a cut on another, I started to do scans on this Vidiian male. I think you'd be happy to know that I've found a cure for the Phage."

"What...?" Zeroth asked in disbelief. "We've been trying to cure the Phage for nearly two thousand years. How can someone from a species and with obvious inferior medical technology cure this virus in such a short time?" he asked as he looked around the room.

"Well firstly sir, I'm not one of these people." Erin told him in a huff. "I'm a hologram. Secondly you didn't have me or Borg modified nanoprobes."

As she said that she brought up a few diagrams on a medical monitor on the wall. Typing into the console, it showed a darkened shape on the screen.

"This is a damaged cell infected by the Phage that I extracted from our... dead friend here." she said indicating the Vidiian on the bio-bed. "I was studying the cellular degradation for awhile and then it hit me. In order for Seven's body to stay regulated it depends on her nanoprobes. So I took some of the ones that I extracted from her regular maintenance check and combined them with healthy skin tissue." she said as she typed into her console and it showed a healthy Vidiian cell. "After reprogramming the nanoprobes to restore cellular function, it repaired the Vidiian cell and took the healthy tissue from skin that I added and well... this is the result."

"This... this is impossible." Zeroth said as he walked towards her and studied her findings. "It's so strange. The Borg and my society have become so used to taking away from others, that now I find that all my people needed was them all along."

"If you'd like I could supply you with a small batch of nanoprobes and information on how to make your own." Erin told him, excitement evident in her voice. Her first real assignment as a Doctor and she had cured a disease that had plagued these people for centuries.

"For your sake I hope this cure works for your people." Ben told Zeroth as the alien looked up at him. "But I wanted to make something perfectly clear to you. I personally went down to that planet and I saw all those people you and the other Vidiians have killed. My first instinct was to destroy your ship and blow you out of the nearest airlock, but my culture finds such things morally reprehensible. I want you to take a message back to your people. If this cure doesn't work and you start organ harvesting again, you'd better pray that you never encounter us again, because I'll make it seem like what you did down there was a prank compared to what I'll do to you. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, we do." Seroth replied, as he raised the spot where his eyebrows should have been.

"Good." Ben said as he looked to Erin. "Doctor, give him what information he needs and then Odo I want you to escort him the hell off of my ship." Ben said as he spun on his heel. Before he could leave, Erin grabbed his arm.

"Captain, wait." Erin started. "I am programmed to report to you anything that could be a possible danger to the crew."

"Yes, I know." Ben replied anxiously. "Please get on with this doctor, I have someplace to be."

"It's concerning the young lady I got the tissue sample from sir." Erin replied as she started to whisper in his ear, so Odo wouldn't hear them.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"I just cured a disease that's been around for two thousand years." Erin replied with a roll of her holographic eyes. "You'd think I'd know how to tell the difference between one species and another."

"Odo, stay here with Zeroth." Ben said as he looked back to Erin. "I'll be back shortly."

Cargo Bay One

As Ben walked into the cargo bay, he saw Chakotay and his crew mingling about talking about their newest predicament. Walking next to a small security detail, Kira, Valerie, B'Elanna and Dax, he cleared his throat to try to get their attention.

"Hey, shut up!" Kira shouted, making everyone in the room be quiet.

"Thank you." Ben said amused.

"Just doing my job." Kira replied with a smile.

"I'll be perfectly honest with all of you." Ben started as he looked into all of their faces. "We are in a terrible situation."

"That's the understatement of the century." Seska mumbled under her breath to Ro.

"You've lost your only means of traveling through space and back to the Alpha Quadrant." Ben continued. "And this ship is only staffed with nearly half of what she needs to stay functional."

"Are you suggesting that we become members of this crew?" Chakotay asked. After all they had been through in the Alpha Quadrant with the Federation, he didn't know if that would work. But thinking about it, it 's not like they had any other options. Plus he knew this man, or at least he had once. It had been nearly three years since he had last seen him and he could've sworn he had heard through the grape vine that Ben and the Ares had been lost with all hands.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ben said as he looked to him and then back to the others. "Love it or hate it, we need each other, especially if we are to stand a chance of getting back home. But that's a decision that can wait for the morning. Right now the Mess Hall is open and Kira will see too it that all of you are assigned quarters. Mr. Chakotay..."

"Yes Captain." the words rolled off of Chakotay's tongue easily. He had sworn three years ago to never serve Starfleet again or to call someone Captain again, but here he was.

"It's nice seeing you again." he said with a tight smile. "We have much to discuss in the morning but for now I'll see too it that your people get a proper burial." In actuality he had told the remaining Vidiians to bury Chakotay's lost comrades or he would blow up their ship. They were down on planet meat burying them now under guard of his security team. As he was about to walk out of the room, Tuvok suddenly walked over to him.

"Captain, may we converse in private?" Tuvok asked. "I wanted to act as a liaison for the Maquis." he said loud enough for the others to hear.

"Walk with me to the Ready room then." Ben replied as both of them walked out of the room.

"All right everybody, we'll find you some quarters first so you can freshen up." Dax called out. "And then we can go to the Mess Hall." with that they started to slowly file out of the room.

"So are you going to tell me how you survived?" Chakotay asked of B'Elanna as he grabbed her arm.

"I'll tell you over dinner." B'Elanna replied, with a smile, glad to be in the company of at least most of her friends. "I'll say one thing about your Borg girlfriend. She can cook."

'So that's where Seven went.' Chakotay thought to himself. They were beamed aboard separately and she didn't wait for him in the Transporter room. He would have asked the computer where she was but honestly he had his people to deal with. Putting a pep in his step, he matched B'Elanna's stride oblivious to Valerie and Seska shaking their heads at him.

A/N The Vidiians are going to play a part in this story arch at a later time. You'll see what I mean. Please review...


	25. Chapter 23 Duty Roster

A/N Thanks for all of the reviews guys. As a treat I'm going to upload two chapters at once again. Please review both.

Chapter 23

Duty Roster

Tuvok stared at Ben evenly as both men sat down at his desk. They had made a quick detour to Sickbay to make sure Zeroth was gone, before they came to the room. Cracking his knuckles, Ben cleared his throat giving Tuvok the indication that he wanted him to speak.

"Even though you are not the superior officer that I am supposed to divulge this information to, it is only logical for me to tell you the extent of my true involvement with the Maquis." Tuvok started. "I am an undercover operative sent from Starfleet to infiltrate the Maquis."

As he said that Ben's eyes widened slightly before he decided to narrow them. "How can I be sure that you're telling me the truth?" Ben asked, getting to the point. "For all I know this can be some kind of... Maquis trick."

"There is very little logic in that statement, Captain." Tuvok replied, vaguely remembering saying that to Captain Janeway some years before. "As you said yourself, we need each other. However I do see your point." as he said that he took a small chain off of his neck, with a rod at the end of it, that was clear with a light blue tint and handed it to Ben. "That is a Cardassian optolythic data rod. That rod was chosen as a method of data storage because it can only be written on once, cannot be altered and it's hard to destroy. It holds information on my true identity and only myself, Captain Janeway, and Starfleet command have the access codes to use it. I wore it around my neck so in case I was lost in battle, Starfleet would know who I was."

As he explained that, Ben rolled the optolythic rod around in his fingers. Turning his desks computer around, he placed it in a slot on the side of it and allowed Tuvok to type in his personal code. Seeing that a file was being pulled up, Ben saw in black and white that he was telling the truth. He was Lieutenant Tuvok, assigned to USS Voyager, under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway.

"Kira, I need you in my Ready room." Ben said as he slapped at his combadge.

**'I'm on my way.'** Kira replied, over the comline.

"Mr. Tuvok, for now I'd like for you to stay in the guise of being a member of the Maquis." Ben started as he sat back in his chair. "And when Kira gets here, I want you to give me your complete evaluation of Chakotay and Seska."

"Seska, sir?" Tuvok asked in confusion, as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Seska." Ben replied after a moment of thought. "We have a lot to discuss Tuvok and we have to put a few plans into place."

Mess Hall

Chakotay and the other members of the Maquis walked through the doors into a steam-filled room. Feeling a little better, after finding some quarters and taking a nice sonic shower, Chakotay lightly rubbed his neck. Looking to the right of the room, Chakotay saw a pair of large pans sizzling away on blazing braziers. Surprisingly, Tom Paris was behind the counter. He seasoned the food in the pans, then put some food onto a metal tray and handed it to a crewman across the serving counter.

'From flyboy to cook.' Chakotay thought to himself with a laugh. Looking to a corner, on the side of the room, he saw Seven sitting alone typing into a data Padd. "Hey, B'Elanna find us a table." he told his friend. "I'll be right back."

With a slow stride he walked towards the table and placed a warm smile on his face. "Is this seat taken?" he asked as Seven looked up at him.

"Actually it is." Tom said, from behind him, before she could answer. Turning Chakotay saw Tom with two trays of food in his hands. "Sorry, I'm late, but I had to serve the last crewman before coming over here."

"So you two are..." with a sigh Chakotay just shook his head. He had wanted Seven to move on with her life, but he never thought that she'd move on with Tom. He didn't have anything too negative to say about the other man but from what little he remembered of him, he seemed to be a dog when it came to women. "Never mind."

"Why don't you sit down and join us, Chakotay?" Tom said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, as he moved a chair. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Maybe... maybe another time." Chakotay stammered, deflated. "Seven." he said with a curt nod as he turned back around and walked back towards his group.

As Chakotay walked away, Seven watched him for a second before turning her attention to Tom. She studied his expressionless face as he ate his food and wondered why he had tried so hard to push Chakotay away.

"Man, I think I put too much paprika on this." he suddenly spoke, snapping Seven out of her inner musings. Looking up at her Tom smiled as he saw that she was staring at him. "Is the food that bad?"

"I haven't eaten any yet." Seven replied, staring deeply into his eyes.

Seeing that she had a question on her lips, Tom decided to clear the elephant in the room.

"I know what you're probably thinking." Tom started as he put down his fork. "I... I have real feelings for you and... and my whole life people have been taking things from me. I refuse to let that happen again."

"I am not a thing, Tom." Seven reminded him politely.

"Oh... oh I didn't mean."

"I know what you meant." Seven assured as she placed a hand on his. "To be honest I have strong feelings for you as well."

"You look like you're going to say but." Tom said grumpily.

"... but I owe it to myself to have a sense of closure with Chakotay." Seven went on. "I don't know where my feelings for him will lead but I just have to know. I won't take how you... how we feel for each other for granted. You're the one that encouraged me to have my first date with him anyway."

Scrunching his face up in confusion, Tom searched his mind to when such an event occurred. Then it hit him. 'He was the one she was asking me about back at Utopia Planitia?' Tom thought to himself with wide eyes.

"You were correct." Seven said as she took a bite out of her food. "You did put too much paprika in this dish."

* * *

'So she has another man?' Seska questioned herself, as she saw the scene unfold in front of her. Still she wondered if Chakotay would like to start a relationship with her now. On second thought, he'd probably just moan about the other woman a little longer. Damn her. "God, what a..."

"Bitch." Valerie and Seska said at the same time. With a smile, Seska turned to the Starfleet officer and got up and sat down at her table and introduced herself. To Seska it was funny, because she just knew that she wasn't going to like anyone on this ship.

* * *

Sitting down heavily in his chair, Chakotay watched as the other members of the Maquis stood in line gathering food. Watching him intently, B'Elanna cleared her throat.

"So you and your girlfriend aren't getting back together?" B'Elanna asked as Chakotay looked at her sadly.

"She's not my girlfriend." Chakotay replied with a soft voice. "To be honest with you, she never was. The last time we spoke we were just going to start a relationship but my father was killed and I knew I had to take up his cause. I... I told her to move on with someone else and..." he stopped as he looked up to see Tom and the woman of his affection eating and talking. "I guess she has."

"Hmmm, she's moving fast." B'Elanna replied with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Chakotay asked, crossing his arms over his shoulders.

"Well the way Kira described everything, this entire crew was stuck in an anomoly for almost three years." she started, trying to remember the details of what the first officer had told her. "As soon as the Ares was cleared their first mission was to go to DS9 to stop the Cardassians from destroying it. Do you remember that wormhole that was reported to have opened up briefly in the Bajoran system? Well the Ares was the one that found it and then it closed up behind them for almost three years. The wormhole was actually an anomoly where these non corporeal aliens lived. The Bajorans called them their Prophets. Anyway the only ones that were awake inside of it were Seven and the Captain. They were questioned by these beings and then they were shot out of what they called the Celestial temple and ended up on the edge of the Badlands..."

"And then they were brought here." Chakotay finished for her.

"Exactly." B'Elanna replied. "They've only been in the Delta Quadrant for maybe like a week and a couple of days."

'So they haven't had time to get serious.' Chakotay thought to himself.

"So you're already calling Sisko, Captain?" Ro asked as she turned around and gave B'Elanna a look.

"Don't start with me, Ro." B'Elanna said back with mock anger.

With a roll of his eyes, Chakotay tuned out their friendly banter. When he had recruited both of these women he had thought that it was a mistake because both of them had strong personalities. To his surprise however they got along very well and had become fast friends. Caught in his musings and wondering about the fate of the Maquis on this ship, a bowl of mushroom soup was suddenly placed in front of him. Looking up, he saw that Seska had given it to him.

"You looked like you were hungry." she told him with a smile.

"Bah... I guess I have to make my own plate." B'Elanna said with a frown as she stood up and walked towards the counter.

"Thank you, Seska." Chakotay said, even as he looked over at Seven for a moment. "This is my favorite."

"I know." she replied, not losing her smile, even though she caught his sideways glance.

As Seska sat down beside him, Tuvok suddenly walked into the room. Looking around, the Vulcan suddenly spotted Chakotay and walked over to his table.

"I have spoken to the Captain on behalf of our crew." Tuvok announced as he sat down at their table.

"And..." Ro said, before Chakotay could say anything.

"And he wants to see Chakotay at 0700 hours." Tuvok replied as he looked from the beautiful Bajoran woman to Chakotay. "He said that he has a very important offer for you and the rest of our crew."

"Do you know what he has planned for us?" Seska asked.

"No." Tuvok smoothly lied. "However worrying about it is..."

"Illogical... yeah we know." Seska replied, with a roll of her eyes. Sometimes she really hated that Vulcan.

"Look at Tom over there with that poor girl." Ro said as she looked over at the pilot laughing at one of his own jokes.

"You know him?" Chakotay asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

"Yeah, we went to the Academy together." Ro replied, offhandedly. "God he was a pig. Every pretty girl he saw, he tried to take advantage of. That girl just doesn't know what she's in for."

'Is that a fact?' Chakotay thought to himself. Thinking about the situation for a moment, he let it go for now and concentrated on the safety of his people.

The Next Day

Observation Lounge

0701 Hours

"You want me to serve as your First Officer?" Chakotay asked in shock. He was shocked three years ago when the man had asked him, but even more so now because so much had happened in those years.

"Don't sound too surprised." Ben replied with a smile. "I did offer you the position before."

"But..." as Chakotay tried to say something further, Ben just waved him off.

"I've already talked to Kira and she's decided to step down and become my, Sub-Commander." Ben informed him.

"Why would you do that?" Chakotay asked. "And why give her that position? A Sub-Commander hasn't been used by the Federation in years."

"Well, Chakotay a good number of the crew is now Maquis." Ben said as he stood to his feet and poured himself and Chakotay a glass of brandy. "That is if you've decided to become a part of this crew?" at Chakotay's nod he continued, as he gave the other man the glass of alcohol that he was holding. "And just to be completely honest I need for you and your crew to believe me when I said we are going to work together as one crew. I can't think of a better way to do that, can you?"

"I..."

"As for Kira, we've talked and I decided to make her a Sub-Commander of this ship, with the under-ranking of Major, because we've decided to re-establish the MACO team of which she's going to be in charge of." Ben went on. "It's going to be a combination of Starfleet and Maquis members and they will be in charge of protecting this ship and the members on it. In just this past week we've seen... we've seen so many things."

"Tell me about it." Chakotay replied as he took a swig of brandy.

"Well..."

"Well what?" Chakotay asked.

"Are you going to accept my offer or not?" Ben asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." Chakotay replied as he narrowed his eyes. "But only on one condition. I'm not going to be your little token Maquis officer. I want to make sure that my people are taken care of and get equal rights on this ship."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ben replied as he handed his new First Officer a padd. Excepting it, he read it's contents and his eyes widened.

"You've decided to make B'Elanna your new Chief Engineer?" Chakotay asked as he stood to his feet.

"She seems more than capable don't you think?" Ben asked. "I've decided to place my current Chief into the MACO team because of his experience in the Federation-Cardassian war. I'm not totally convinced on Miss Torres so in addition to his duties in MACO he will still check up on her from time to time until he's satisfied that she knows what she's doing. I'll let you deliver the good news to her. I also want a list of possible candidates from the Maquis that you think will make a good addition to the MACO team. Your duties officially start tomorrow at 0700 hours and I expect to see you in uniform. Dismissed Commander."

"Captain." Chakotay said over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. "Thank you." and with that he was out of the door.

"What do you think, Constable?" Ben asked, as Odo morphed from being a vase and stood beside him, his arms already crossed.

"I still don't trust him just yet." Odo said gruffly. "I'll be sure to keep a close eye on him."

"Very good." was all Ben would say as he sat back in his chair.

"Sir, do you think giving his people guns is a wise decision?" Odo suddenly asked.

"It doesn't matter if they have them today or tomorrow, I have to know if I can trust these people." Ben said as he took a sip of brandy. "And if anything goes wrong or if they try to plan anything at least we'll get a warning from Tuvok."

"Just in case, I'll put some counter measures into place." Odo said as he walked out of the door. Watching him leave, Ben hoped that they wouldn't need them.

A/N I know some people are thinking that I was wrong about Tuvok being a Lt. but I looked it up and he only became a Lt. Commander because most of Voyager's personnel were killed. As far as Ro knowing Tom it was actually on an unused scene for Voyager that they were going to show Tom walking with Ro at the Academy.


	26. Chapter 24 Seeds of Rebellion

A/N If you went to this chapter first, go back and read Duty Roster and find out what's going on. And please review both chapters.

Chapter 24

Seeds of Rebellion

_Captain's log, stardate 48532.4: Chakotay has given me a list of possible candidates that wanted to be on the MACO team. As I had planned, the people I wanted to see on there are on the list. Now will be the beginning of placing chaos into order._

Cargo Bay One

Seska, Ro Laren, Tuvok, Miles O'Brien, and Valerie all stood at attention as Ben and Kira walked past them and observed their stance.

"What do you think, Major?" Ben asked, as Kira crossed her arms over her chest and let out a little huff.

"I guess they'll do." Kira told him.

"Then, I'll leave you to it." Ben replied as he turned and walked out of the room.

"All right before we get started with this you all need to know your rankings." Kira started as she looked around at the group. "Besides myself, O'Brien has the most experience in battle so I've decided to make him the First Sergeant of this team. Valerie you will keep your ranking as Lieutenant until your training with Odo is over. After that you will receive the rank of Corporal and you will pick several more Maquis and Starfleet officers to serve under you."

"Hey what about us?" Seska asked.

"Are you just going to give all of the important rankings to Starfleet personnel?" Ro added.

"Of course not, Private's." Kira replied with a twisted smile, that quickly turned into a frown. "Now get back in line!" she snapped, as they reluctantly got back into place. "Tuvok I want you to be my Corporal."

"I accept those terms." Tuvok replied with a nod of his head.

"Good." Kira said with a satisfied smile. At least he didn't argue. "So would you please lead these girls out of the room? On my order I want you to lead these two in running a lap around the ship? Mr. O'Brien and Miss Archer will meet you outside of the door in a moment."

"As you wish." the dark skinned Vulcan replied with a nod of his head. "Private's Seska and Ro you will accompany me by the Turbolift. When Commander Kira gives the order we will start on deck A and end on deck J. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Seska and Ro grumbled out together as the three of them walked out of the room.

"Comma... Major what's goin' on?" O'Brien asked, as the others got out of ear shot. "One minute I'm in Engineering and the next the Captain wants that girl in charge down there."

"I'm under orders not to say what's happening." Kira said lowly, even though the others wouldn't hear her. "All I can tell you is that I want you two to watch the Maquis, especially Seska. Report any suspicious activity directly to me and don't let them know you're watching them. That's an order."

* * *

Chakotay walked down the corridors of the Ares wearing a crisp new pip-less command red Starfleet uniform. It felt so weird wearing one again, but he didn't miss having to tug on the bottom of it. Seeing Tom Paris further down the hall, he decided to match his stride.

"Going somewhere, Paris?" Chakotay asked, making Tom slightly jump.

"Yeah, I'm going to an important meeting." Tom told him as he gave him a look. "You're anxious to get back into command aren't you?"

Not saying a word, Chakotay just smiled as he walked with him onto the turbolift and headed for the Captain's Ready room where Odo, Ben, B'Elanna, Seven, and Dax were waiting. It surprised Chakotay however as the senior staff seemed to be accepting of his new arrangements as the ships First Officer. The only one that seemed to be surprised about his new position seemed to be Tom Paris and B'Elanna.

As the meeting adjourned and people started to file out of the room, Neelix nervously walked into the room.

"Uhhh... ummm... Captain I've checked the ships flight trajectory." Neelix said as he started to fidget. "As your guide to this Quadrant I wish you had of consulted me before taking this route."

"This is my ship." Ben reminded him as he and Chakotay gave each other a look.

"Yes but Captain you don't understand." Neelix went on. "In this sector of space, ships fly in but they never fly out."

"Is there a reason for that phenomenon?" Chakotay asked.

"Some say a race of people destroy any ship that tries to cross their space." Neelix explained.

"So you've never flown into this section of space before?" Chakotay asked, confused.

"With all do respect, Mister... mister..."

"Chakotay." Chakotay introduced himself. "Commander Chakotay."

'Boy this ship has more Commanders then I've ever seen.' Neelix thought to himself. "Well with all do respect Commander, if you've heard something like that before, would you fly in this direction?"

"We promise to be careful, Neelix." Ben said as he walked past him and onto the Bridge. If this course was going to shave six years off of their journey home, there was no way he was going to turn back now.

Watching as Ben sat down in his command chair, Chakotay looked around at the Bridge crew and finally settled on Dax's beautiful face. As she gave him a reassuring nod, he sat down next to Sisko. After a few minutes, Chakotay closed his eyes and started to get comfortable and that was the moment everything went horribly wrong.

"Ben, I'm detecting several small vessels approaching our position." Dax reported from her station.

"Is it from any known ship from Neelix's database?" Ben asked.

"No." Dax reported as she looked down at him. "But they'll intercept us in two minutes."

"Ohhhh boy, ohhhh boy." Neelix said nervously as he began to tap his right foot nervously on the floor.

"Neelix!" Ben snapped. Using two fingers, he pointed to the vacant command chair beside him. Closing his mouth, the Talaxian obediently sat down beside the Captain."

"Nine small vessels have just dropped out of warp." Odo spoke up. "The lead ship is hailing us."

"Onscreen." Chakotay said. The image that showed up on the main viewer shocked the whole bridge crew. The alien being that now stared at them was wearing all black military styled uniform and had a white mask on it's face, with what appeared to be a large birds beak in the middle of it.

"Alien vessel, I am Strigidae, Captain First Class of the Krowtonan Guard." the alien said, hostility evident in his voice. "You have committed a serious infraction by crossing the borders of our territory. By the authority given to me by the Senate of the Krowtonan homeworld, you will be destroyed."

"Ohhhhhh boy... ohhhh boy..." Neelix started saying again, as Ben gave him a sideways glance, instantly making him be quiet.

"I am Captain Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets." Ben started, only for the Krowtonan captain to hit his hand hard on the console.

"The Federation!?" Strigidae yelled out. "This is your second infraction! How many times will you cross our borders and violate our space with your presence?" before Ben could answer, he cut communications.

"Can we ever just meet some nice and wholesome alien species?" Tom muttered to himself, even though the rest of the Bridge crew seemed to nod in agreement.

"Did you hear what he said?" Chakotay asked as he turned to Ben. "There's another Federation ship out there somewhere."

"But how long ago has..."

"Ben, those ships are surrounding us." Dax cut him off.

"Come about." Ben commanded. "Full impulse."

As the ship started to swerve to the left, the lead ship moved to block them, even as two of them started to fire energy beams at their warp drive. Keeping himself level, as the ship started to violently rock, Tom typed into his console.

"Captain, those energy beams are draining power from our warp core." Tom reported as he looked back at him. "I can't get us out of here."

**'Torres to the Bridge.'** they heard B'Elanna's voice over the comline. **'What the hell is going on up there?'**

"Standby Chief." Ben replied as he looked back at Odo. "Constable, disable those two ships and Tom when we're clear, full reverse. Get us the hell out of here."

Before Odo could get a clear shot all of the ships started to zip around the Ares at incredible speeds. As they did so, they emitted large strings of energy that formed together and created a form of energy webbing or a crows nest that surrounded the ship on all sides.

"They're still draining the ships energy supply." Dax reported.

'I've had about enough.' Ben thought to himself. "Target the nearest ship." the Captain ordered. "Fire!"

Typing into his console, Odo shot out a few blasts from the phasers, but they only bounced off the webbing and dissipated into the energy barrier.

"No damage." Odo reported.

"Load the torpedo launchers, fire when ready." Ben said, trying to change tactics.

The torpedoes shot out into space and merely lit up the web, even as the Ares started to shake as the Krowtonan Guard started firing at them.

"Get us out of here." Chakotay ordered as consoles and plasma transfer conduits started to explode behind him. "Engineering, give us full power to the engines."

**'The warp drive isn't responding.'** B'Elanna reported.

"Apply ablative hull armor!" Ben yelled.

"The ablative armor generators aren't responding." Dax told him. "It's because of the energy barrier. We've also lost power on decks C, D and E."

Quickly standing to his feet, Chakotay ran to Odo's console. Excusing himself, he quickly typed into the Changeling's console and fired off a continuous full powered blast of phaser fire that hit the top of the webbing, where it seemed less formed. After a few seconds the web destabilized and disappeared.

"Mr. Paris, get us the hell out of here!" Ben roared. "Maximum warp!"

"All I can give you is warp four!" Tom replied over the sound of venting plasma.

"I'll take it." Ben said as the ship hit warp, leaving the smaller vessels behind.

"There's no sign of pursuit." Dax reported as she let out a breath, she didn't know she was holding. Luckily they didn't fly that far into the solar system.

"Department heads meet me in my Ready room." Ben ordered as he slapped at his combadge.

Ready Room

"How did you know how to disrupt that field?" Dax asked of Chakotay, as she, Ben, Seven, Tom, B'Elanna, Kira, Neelix, and Odo sat around the main table.

"Believe it or not but the Maquis encountered something similar to it when we were in the Alpha Quadrant." Chakotay answered. "I'm just glad the same trick worked twice."

"Perhaps you should show me a few of your... Maquis tricks?" Odo suggested, as Chakotay nodded at him.

"I'm sure you took extensive scans of the region, old man." Ben stated, as he looked to his science officer.

"Yes, I did." Dax replied with a sigh, as she stood up and walked towards the overhead computer console. Typing in some commands, a simulation of the nearby solar system appeared on screen. "Seven and I have been going over this for awhile. According to our data if we don't go through Krowtonan space, at a minimal it would take at least five and a half years to go around them."

"Why would it take so long outside of their space?" Kira asked.

"Basically, if we go through their solar system it should be smooth sailing and it'll only take about six weeks to go through." Dax started to explain. "But if we tried going around it, we'd have to deal with sub-space field clusters, random anomalies, and a massive asteroid field we'd have to navigate through."

"So basically we're damned if we do, damned if we don't?" Ben asked, as he closed his eyes to think for a moment. "We have a long road ahead of us, but I made a vow to this crew to do whatever it took to get us home a lot sooner than seventy five years. Normally in a situation like this I would suggest that we change course and find another route to take, but there's another Federation ship out there somewhere..."

"How can we be sure that the Krowtonan Guard didn't destroy that ship?" B'Elanna asked, as everyone looked at her. Not letting on that she was feeling the weight of their stares, she quickly continued. "I mean this is the most advanced Starfleet ship we've ever seen and we had to retreat. How do we know the other ship made it through?"

"We don't." Ben told her honestly. "But what if they did make it? What do you think our chances of getting home would be with two ships?"

"If the ship is not heavily damaged and has a functional warp drive capable of warp nine and enough crew members then..." Seven stopped to calculate all the possibilities and outcomes. "It would increase our chances of survival and of getting home by twenty six percent."

Sending a glare towards the other woman, B'Elanna suddenly thought to herself. 'Show off.'

"That was a rhetorical question but it proves my point." Ben replied with a smile. "Chakotay and Odo I'd like for you two to analyze the battle data from our fight with the Krowtonan Guard and come up with a counter measure to their attacks."

"Yes, sir." Chakotay replied as Odo nodded his agreement.

"Mr. Neelix, I would like for you to get with Seven, Kes, and Dax." Ben said as he turned to the ships guide. "Give them all the information they need on what planets have food and dilithium on them. Even though our ship isn't in need of resupply for another three years there's no telling when the next time we'll be able to make a stop and I want our food, mineral, and supply stores filled to the brim."

"Yes, Captain." Neelix told him, happy that he could be helpful.

"Good. Major how is the MACO team coming along?" Ben asked as he looked towards Kira.

"I already have two trouble makers." she replied as she looked to Chakotay. Without her even saying their names he already knew who she was talking about. "But I'll whip them into shape."

"Make sure it's done soon." Ben said as he sat back in his chair. "I have a feeling we're going to need them. B'Elanna how much damage was done to the ship and how long will it take to be fixed?"

"Besides the massive power drain, a little damage to the outer hull, and a few damaged relays, I should have everything as good as new in a couple of days." B'Elanna told him. "This is a tough little ship."

"I'm glad I have your approval." Ben told her with a lopsided grin. "Get with Mr. O'Brien and have him to help you. I've also read your reports about the Doctor. I don't know what problems you and Seven are having but I need Doctor Erin fixed on the double."

"Yes, sir." B'Elanna said as she gave Seven a quick, but hard glance.

"Mr. Paris, Seven tells me that you wanted to start a movie night?" the Captain asked, startling the pilot. Honestly he came to this meeting because he was Chief Helmsman, but didn't think that Ben would ask him any questions.

"Ummm... yes sir." Tom replied as he sat up straighter in his chair.

"Well get on it." Ben said with a raised eyebrow. "After all this crew has seen we need the entertainment."

"If it's entertainment you need, maybe I can help." Neelix spoke up. "I've been checking the computers database on recreational and relaxing programs for use on the holodeck."

"The both of you can work on it together then." Ben replied as he looked around at the group. "We'll reconvene in a week but no later. If that's all... dismissed."

As everyone started to leave the room, Chakotay cleared his throat. "Ensign Sisko, may I have a word with you?"

Hearing Seven's name, Tom stopped in his tracks until Ben put a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him lightly out of the room. Hearing the soft swish of the doors closing behind her, Seven placed her hands behind her back and looked over at the older man.

"You wished to speak with me, Commander?" Seven asked professionally.

"At ease." Chakotay simply said, as he indicated that he wanted them to sit down. "I ummm... I wanted to make several overdue apologies."

"You have not harmed me." Seven stated.

"No... no.. no... I... I wanted to apologize for... how I left." Chakotay started. "It's just that when I found out my father died, I was so angry and hurt because I never got a chance to patch things up with him and to tell him I loved him. I felt that I had to honor him by taking up his cause and making the Cardassians pay for what they had done. What I didn't mean to do however was hurt you in the process. I couldn't sleep well last night so I took a walk around the ship and I bumped into your father. We... we started talking and he told me how badly my leaving had effected you. I'm not asking for a second chance, especially considering how wide our age gap is now, but I at least wanted us to try to rebuild a friendship."

As Chakotay spoke, Seven thought back to that day on Mars and the hurt she felt at that moment came back to her and made her shiver. But then in that same moment, she thought about something that made a cold chill run down her spine. What if she had of lost Ben instead on that moon they had crashed on. The Borg had no use for revenge but she was human and she knew that it would have broken her spirit if she had to tell her little brother that their father was dead. Giving Chakotay another look a lingering thought popped into her head. 'What if.'

"I'd like that." Seven finally replied, giving him the benefit of a doubt.

"Good." Chakotay replied with a warm smile, as the both of them stood to leave. "Oh and umm, I know that you're dating Tom." he said and stopped himself from what he was about to say. "Tell him... tell him I'll take him up on his offer and the three of us can have dinner soon. I'm not much of a cook, but I can replicate a hell of a vegetable stew."

"I remember how... well you can cook." Seven replied with a smile as she headed towards the door, her back to him. "Me and Tom aren't dating... not yet, but I'll let him know what you said."

And with that Seven walked out of the room, making Chakotay breathe a sigh of relief. At least he had cleared the air and hopefully both of them could move past this and start anew.

Mess Hall

"By... by the Prophets." Seska gasped out as she and Valerie stumbled into the Mess hall and sat down. Sweat pouring off both of their brows. "That damn Vulcan tried to kill us."

They had run halfway across the ship and she was already out of breath. When the Krowtonan Guard had attacked they had a small break, until after Tuvok had found out what was going on. As soon as the attack ended and they were clear of danger, they had to run through the ship again from the beginning.

"Tell me about it." Valerie replied as she rubbed at her sore legs. Seeing a crewman at the counter, she suddenly waved over at him. "Hey give us a bottle of Andorian Brandy. None of the replicated stuff, because we've had a bad day."

As the crewman brought the bottle and a couple of glasses over, Seska and Valerie made a toast and started to down the strong beverage. After a few glasses and her mind going numb, Valerie looked over at Seska and violated one of her most sacred oafs as a Starfleet officer. She told the standing order that she had received from her superior officer.

"Hey Seska." Valerie said as her speech became impaired. "Major Kira told me to watch you."

Equinox

Ready Room

Captain Rudolph Ransom, stood at the view port of his ship and silently watched as the stars zoomed past. Even though it was three weeks ago since he had passed, partially through Krowtonan space, almost half of his crew was dead because of their attack. What made it worse was the fact that they couldn't even traverse all the way through their space. Half way through it, they had fallen for a booby trap of sub-space mines that had nearly destroyed his ship.

It seemed that the Guard had already put counter measures up, in case a ship had gotten past their border patrol. They had no choice but to adjust their heading and get out of Krowtonan space. If only they could have stayed in their space until the end, he could halfway justify getting those thirty nine people killed. Checking the ships readouts, he had found that at least they had cleared the large asteroid field outside of their space and had shaved three years off of their journey home.

'But was it worth it?' he questioned himself.

Not only because all of those people died but because of the people who were still living. His ship was severely damaged and the crew had not eaten in days. Things were falling apart so badly that he had wanted to find a nice M-Class planet and make a colony there, but then he remembered something important. He had promised on the dead souls of his crew members that had died, that he would get the others home. If anything he was going to keep fighting so that at least he could fulfill that promise.

Luckily for them however, long range sensors detected an M-Class planet about another day's journey from where they were now. If anything maybe those people would be welcoming and give them food and much needed medical supplies.

Suddenly his combadge chirped, making him snap out of his thoughts. "I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed?"

'**I'm sorry, Captain.'** Lieutenant Burke, his new First Officer said over the comline. '**But we're being hailed by an alien vessel. The main viewer is still damaged so we're getting audio only. They are known as the Vidiians and they are asking if we need assistance.'**

"I'm on my way." Ransom replied, as he massaged the back of his neck and walked out onto the Bridge.


	27. Chapter 25 Two Days and Two Nights

A/N Takes place a few days after chapter 24. This site also has very strict rules about placing song lyrics posted on this site, so I'm not going to post the lyrics of the song that Seven is going to sing on here, per site rules. But it's a song called Blue Shadows on the trail. Also thanks for the wonderful reviews you guys left me on the last couple of chapters it really brightened my day.

Chapter 25

Two Days and Two Nights

_Captain's log supplemental: Miss Torres and Sgt. O'Brien are finally done completing repairs on the ship. Even though we were repelled from Krowtonan space, the crews spirits are up over the prospect of another Federation ship being out there. We are heading towards a rouge planetoid now, marked from Mr. Neelix's database. Hopefully we will be able to stock up on more food and supplies so we can go back through Krowtonan space and get to that other ship before they get too far. The way everything is looking at the moment, we'll be ready to go back in the next three days. _

The Ares

Bridge

"Ben we've reached the coordinates of the planetoid." Dax reported as she typed into her console.

"Onscreen." Ben ordered. Typing into her console again a big brown planetoid appeared on the main viewer. "What are you detecting old man?"

"Neelix's information was right." she reported. "I'm picking up a rich deposit of dilithium and other substances we can use."

"Inform B'Elanna of your findings."

"Yes, sir." Dax said with a smile.

"Sir, I've been meaning to ask you this." Chakotay said as he leaned over and whispered into Ben's ear. "Why do you call Commander Dax, old man? She's a young, beautiful woman."

"In this life, maybe." Ben replied with a smile. "She's a Trill and she's older then you think. Believe me you wouldn't have liked the form she was in before this one."

"Captain, I'm receiving a transmission." Odo said as his console started to beep.

"Source?" Ben asked.

"It's coming from the third planet by the double suns of this system." Odo went on.

"Onscreen." Chakotay ordered. Doing as he was requested, Odo typed in a few commands into his console and after a moment an older humanoid male with white hair appeared on the screen with very loud music playing behind him.

"Alien vessel I am Chancellor Keslor, a representative of planet Asir." Keslor told them.

"I am Captain Benjamin Sisko of the USS Ares." Ben greeted back. "How may we be of assistance to you?"

"You must be new to this quadrant, Captain?" Keslor asked with a smile. "This is Asir... the pleasure planet." as he said that he stepped away from his viewer and the crew saw a beautiful beach with scantily clad women running on it. Letting them see enough, Keslor stepped back into view. "I'm hosting a party in a few hours and I'd like to extend the invitation to you and your crew. Are you interested?"

'You're damn right, I am.' Ben thought to himself. "I need to confer with my crew first."

"Of course." the Chancellor said with a smile. "Take all the time you need."

With a hand gesture from Ben, Odo muted the audio. "What do you think, Chakotay?"

"You saw that planet just like I did." the Commander said with a smile.

"Old man?" Ben said as he turned to Dax.

"I don't think you two were actually looking at the beach..." Dax started with a wiry smile. "...but after all the hostile aliens we've encountered since coming to the Delta Quadrant, I think we deserve some shore leave."

"Constable?" Sisko asked of the Security Chief.

"Don't look at me." Odo replied in a huff. "You solids and your vacations... a good days work is all you need."

"Tom?" Ben asked of his pilot.

"Are you kidding me, I already have my swim trunks picked out." he said as they started to chuckle.

With another gesture of his hand, Odo put the audio back. "I've discussed it with my crew and we'd love to take you up on your offer."

"Good." Keslor said with a smile. "Welcome to planet Asir."

Planet Asir

Ben reclined back in his lounger on a beach and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth of the double sunned planet. The inhabitants were very pleasant and loved outsiders and considered it a reason to throw a party. Accepting the offer by the Asirians, Ben put his crew on shore leave. He had let most of the Ensigns and junior crewman have their time down here for the first day, but now it was time for the Senior staff to have fun. In exchange for their hospitality all they asked in return was for them not to bring any weapons to the planet and to share a little of Earth's culture with them.

If he could compare this paradise to anything in the Alpha Quadrant it would be Risa, but even that couldn't truly compare to this place. A place where it never rained, the water of the ocean was warm and the wind smelled sweet.

Feeling someone blocking his sun, he looked up and saw Dax, in a blue two piece bikini standing over him, carrying a tray of yellow and red topped drinks.

"I thought that you might be thirsty." Dax said with a smile, as Sisko reached up and took one of the drinks.

"Thank you." Ben replied with a smile of his own, taking a sip of the sweet drink. Getting one herself, she placed the tray on a small table and sat down to the left of him.

"Where's Seven?" she asked, even as she reclined back in her chair and got comfortable.

"She's still on the ship." Ben replied with a shake of his head. "You know how that girl is. I tell her to relax and she starts working on progress reports."

With a quick chuckle from the both of them, they just sat back and looked up to the pink sky totally relaxed. Settling into a comfortable silence, Ben sat up quickly as he saw someone walking towards him.

Time itself seemed to slow down for Ben as Kira walked towards them wearing a form fitting one piece red bikini. She had just cut her hair, to a shorter length the other day and it made her look all the more beautiful with the back drop of the paradise of the planet behind her.

"I could live to be older then you, but I'll never get tired of seeing a beautiful woman walking towards me." Ben whispered to Dax as Kira walked up to them, having heard what he had said.

"The water felt great." Kira said as she looked from Dax to Ben, dripping with water. "Could you hand me that towel?" she asked of her commanding officer.

Not having to be told twice, Ben reached over onto the chair beside him and grabbed the big fluffy towel that was draped on it. Instead of handing it to her, like she had asked, he stood to his feet and opened it so he could place it around her.

"What are you going to do, fondle me?" Kira asked, even as she let him place the towel around her.

"I might." Ben whispered as they both shared a laugh.

Dax could only watch the two of them and put a smile on her face. She didn't know what was going on but for the last couple of days she had caught the two of them flirting with one another. Now all they needed was something that would push them together a little more because she wanted Ben to move on with his life. To just be honest he needed love and in the future they would need a replacement crew. Unseen to the group, but someone slipped a quick dissolving pill into their drinks.

Making their way over to the large lounge chairs, Kira sat down on the right side of Ben.

"Here." Dax said as she reached to the table that was beside her and handed Kira a drink. "I got you something to drink."

"What is it?" Kira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I never really got the name of it." Dax admitted.

"I call them, Bahama Mama's." Ben replied with a chuckle as he took a sip of his drink.

With a chuckle of her own, Kira drank a little herself and instantly her head was swimming. "Wow, this stuff is really strong." the beautiful Bajoran said as her hand went up to her temple.

"Really?" Dax asked as she took a drink of her own beverage. "It tastes sweet to me. I don't taste anything strong."

After a few more sips of their drinks, Kira looked at Ben and he in turn looked at her with a mischievious look in his eye. Grabbing her hand, they both stood up and started to walk away.

"You have the Bridge old man." Ben said over his shoulder as he and Kira disappeared around a corner.

"But we're not on the ship!" Dax yelled out to him.

"What's going on with those two?" Chakotay asked softly from beside her.

"I don't know." Dax replied loosely as she turned around and looked at Chakotay. Her mouth watering slightly, she took in the sight of his well muscled body that was dripping with water. "I'm sorry what did you say?" she asked as she saw that he was still speaking.

"I asked if this seat was taken?" he asked again with an amused smile.

"No." Dax replied as she cleared her throat. "Have a seat." As he walked past her, she took a look at his rear end and smiled before turning her head back around. 'Maybe I'll ask him out some time.' she thought to herself.

Deciding to relax and not think about it she sank deeper into her chair. On the verge of falling asleep after a few moments, she was fully awoken by the sounds of weapon fire.

"What the..." seeing shapes coming out of different directions, she reached for her combadge but as she tapped it, it gave her a negative beep. As Chakotay was about to get up, one of the approaching figures hit him in the head with the butt of his rifle, rendering him unconscious. "Damn not again." Dax mumbled as fifteen black robed figures, with energy rifles surrounded her and Chakotay. With a sigh and a look towards her newly appointed Commander, she slowly raised her hands up in the air.

The Ares

Astrometrics Lab

Tom walked into the Astrometrics lab with a smile on his face. He had just come back from Asir but he couldn't really enjoy himself the way he wanted because Seven wasn't with him. He understood why she didn't like to go on beaches because of what happened to her brother but as he had explained to her, Jake wasn't here with them. Seeing that she was hell bent on staying on the ship, he decided to beam back up and surprise her. Hearing him coming this time, Seven turned and nearly laughed out loud as she turned around and saw that he was wearing a cowboy outfit.

"Why are you wearing such ridiculous... garments?" Seven asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because, I found out that the JS Alpha program is a western." Tom replied. "And no buts this time, we're on shore leave."

"I..."

"Seven come on this is our vacation time." Tom practically begged. "Who knows when we'll get another chance to have some real fun?"

"All right." Seven said as she blew out a breath in defeat. "I will accompany you to the holodeck."

With a smile, Tom walked all the way into the room and placed a white felt cowgirl hat on her head. "Saddle up, we're going to Texas."

Asir City

Town Square

Dax was roughly shoved into a group of her shipmates and nearly fell to the floor. Catching her before she could fall, Odo pulled her up against himself.

"Go down to the planet she says." Odo said mockingly. "Have fun she says. The one time I listen to Kira, this happens."

"Odo we don't have time for that." Dax admonished him with a frown. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I'll answer that for you." one of the black robed figures said as he threw his hood back. As he did, Dax nearly jumped as she saw that the man before her had evil red eyes and pointed ears like a Vulcan. He looked nothing like the other Asirians and it was as if she were staring into the eyes of the Devil himself. "We're sick of people like you coming to our world, using up all of our resources."

"But we were invited here by Chancellor Keslor." Dax argued.

"The poor Chancellor is nothing but a misguided fool." the red eyed man replied. "Our top scientists say that if we continue this trend of letting outsiders onto our world, in the next few generations our people will be left with nothing."

"Fine, if you don't want us here then we'll leave." Odo spoke up.

"Oh no." Red eyes replied with a sick smile. "You and your people will serve as an example to other races never to come to our planet. In a couple of days a freighter full of people from the system over will come here for a massive party. When they get here we will execute your entire crew in front of them and with that one simple act I will make sure that no one comes to our planet again."

"Sivok, what about their ship?" one of his co-conspirators asked. "It has technology that can instantly transport them off of our world."

"That's why we have the special shielding that will engulf the city." Sivok said as he stared at Dax and then looked over at another one of his servants. "Activate the shield and then send a message to their people. Tell them to leave this system and if they try to do something stupid, like attempt a rescue we're going to start killing hostages."

"Yes, Sivok." his servant replied with a nod as he ran off to do what he was asked.

With a psychotic twitch of his eyes and right shoulder, Sivok walked over to Dax and lightly rubbed her cheek with a gentle finger. The act caused Dax to shiver, just a little. "I'd really hate to have to kill you." Sivok admitted. "You're one of the most beautiful aliens, I've ever seen." and with that he walked over to his soldiers.

"Where the hell are Captain Sisko and Kira?" Odo asked, as he took another quick look around.

"You mean they're not here?" Dax asked, finding her voice.

"No, but hopefully they're somewhere coming up with a plan to get us the hell out of this." Odo told her.

* * *

As the holodeck doors closed behind them, Seven and Tom looked around their environment and saw a town far off in the distance.

"Wow this place is really detailed." Tom said as he looked around and heard Buzzards lightly cawing above them. "And it's hot. I wonder who created this program?"

"I did." Seven answered, as she readjusted her hat. In addition to wearing the cowgirl hat, Tom had picked out a plaid shirt, leather pants, and a duster for her. She didn't mind the tight pants much, but she wondered if he had chosen them just so he could check her out.

"You?" Tom asked in shock. "Somehow this just doesn't scream, Seven Sisko."

"Jake, wrote several stories for me on my Seventeenth birthday." Seven told him, as she took a closer look at the city they had to travel too. "I decided that in order for me to be closer to him and for others to fall in love with his stories, that I wanted to turn what he wrote into holo-novels."

"So you already know how this story is going to end?" Tom asked, disappointment evident in his voice.

"No, this program was designed to end several different ways." she told him as she gave him a look. "It all depends on the decisions that the user makes."

"Well I know what I should have decided right off the bat." Tom said as he took his hat off and started to fan himself with it. "We should have gotten some horses."

No sooner had he said that, they both heard the whinny of a horse behind them. Turning they saw a little black boy, wearing a cowboy outfit, and holding the reins of three stallions. Giving the boy a closer look, Tom could have sworn that he had met him before.

"You forgot yer badge again, Sheriff." the boy said with a thick southern drawl, as he held up two golden star shaped badges. One of them said Sheriff and the other deputy.

Walking over to him, Seven took the Sheriff's badge and pinned it on her shirt. Giving the boy a look, she lightly caressed his face with her finger.

"Aww, enough of that mushy stuff Sheriff." the boy complained as he jerked away from her touch. And at that moment, Tom knew who the boy was, even as he placed the deputy's badge on his jacket and mounted his horse. By the touch of affection she showed him and the lost look that was in her eye, he now remembered that it was Jake.

"So what are we supposed to be doing in this program?" Tom asked, as Seven and Jake mounted their horses.

"The city we are traveling to, is called Terror Texas." Seven started to explain, as they started to slowly ride towards said city. "I am the appointed Sheriff sent to apprehend a dangerous outlaw by the name of Johnny Ringo. You two are my deputies sent to assist me."

"Hey, why do you get to be Sheriff?" Tom asked, jokingly.

"Because it's my program and I'll be Sheriff if I want to." Seven countered as she looked over at him and smiled.

With a laugh, Tom thought about something else. "If we're going to play in this program, I think that we should walk and talk the part."

"Are you suggesting that we talk and act like buffoons?" Seven asked, with a sideways glance in his direction.

"Well... yeah." Tom replied after a moment of thought. As she nodded her agreement, he went on. "Great, now all we need is a little traveling music."

Taking his joke seriously, a guitar materialized in Jake's hands and he started to play a soft but familiar tune on it. Fully expecting the little boy to start singing, he nearly fell off of his horse when Seven started to sing a song.

"Blue shadows..." as the ex-Borg drone started to sing, Tom was taken aback on how good she sounded. Hoping that she didn't want him to join in on a verse, he kept quiet as they rode closer to the town.

The Ares

Bridge

The hairs on the back of the crews neck stood on end at the message the alien on the surface had just given them. They had finally found a place of paradise in what seemed to be a sea of death and decay and now this. Giving each other a look, out of the group of Miles O'Brien, Ro Laren, Valerie, Seska, and Tuvok, it was the Vulcan that found his voice.

"Computer, who is the highest ranking Bridge officer still left onboard?" he asked.

"Scanning." the Computer replied. After a few moments it responded. "Ensign Thomas Eugene Paris is still onboard."

"Tom?" Ro asked, with wide eyes. "Now those people down there really are doomed."

"Do not underestimate Mr. Paris." Tuvok told her. "Under his... goofy persona he is still a Starfleet officer."

"No offense Tuvok but you really don't know the guy." Ro replied as she sat down at Tactical.

"Nevertheless, he must be apprised of the situation." he replied as he tapped at his combadge. "Ensign Paris, you are needed to the Bridge."

Feeling a day late and a dollar short, Valerie knew that she was supposed to be in charge. Literally the day before she had given up her rank to be apart of the MACO team, which didn't hold any rank over anyone that had a function over the ship. Now she had to bear with that pig Tom Paris being in charge of the ship. With a shake of her head, she hoped he didn't get them all killed.

Terror Texas

Main Street

Seven, Jake, and Tom slowly rode into town, spurs a-jingling. Seeing them coming a woman in a state of extreme undress whistled down at Tom from a balcony.

"You said your brother wrote this story?" Tom asked as he looked up at the woman and then at Seven.

"Yes, I merely brought his creation to life." she answered.

"I never thought I'd be the one to say this but I think somebody needs to talk to him about the stuff he writes." he replied as they suddenly heard the sound of a gunshot. "What was..."

**'Ensign Paris you are needed to the Bridge.'** they heard Tuvok's voice say over the comline.

'Damn and this was just getting good.' Tom thought to himself. "I'm on my way."

"I wonder why Corporal Tuvok is requesting you?" Seven asked as she turned her horse around and looked at him.

"I don't know but I better get to the Bridge." he replied as he dismounted his horse, Seven following suit.

"Sheriff where are ya goin'?" Jake asked as they started to walk off. "We have a culprit to catch."

Looking back at him, Seven gave Jake a sad smile. "Computer, end program." and with that they walked out of the empty holodeck and out onto the ship.

As they made it to the Bridge, B'Elanna rolled her eyes at seeing Seven and Tom in their western costumes before leaning over to mock whisper in Ro's ear. "You were right." she started. "We are doomed." Sisko had made her the Chief Engineer on a trial basis and had not given her a rank at the moment, until he was sure that he could trust her. There seemed to be Ensigns down in engineering that had more authority and rank then she did.

"Hey Tuvok, we were trying to enjoy our free time." Tom started as he looked around at the grim faces of his shipmates. "What's going on?"

"A radical faction of Asirians have resurrected a large force field around the town square of Asir city." Tuvok informed him. "They are holding all of the senior officers and over half of the crew hostage and they have made it clear that any attempt to rescue them will be met with deadly force."

"If all of the senior officers are on the planet then whose in charge?" Tom asked in shock. It seemed like they couldn't go anywhere without getting into trouble.

"As the only Bridge officer onboard, you are sir." Tuvok informed him.

"That's right." Valerie said in a huff as she folded her arms over her chest. "So what are your orders. sir?"

As she asked that all he could do was stare at them in a state of disbelief. What the hell was he going to do now?

A/N Please review


	28. Chapter 26 We Are MACO

A/N Thanks for all of those great reviews guys.

Chapter 26

We Are MACO

Having changed into a proper Starfleet uniform, Tom stared at the MACO team, B'Elanna, and Seven as they all assembled in the Ready room. Thirty minutes had passed and he still couldn't believe that fate had chosen to put him in charge. Lives depended on what decisions he made now and after all that they had been through, he was not going to let Ben down now. Knowing that time was quickly running out, he cleared his throat and got ready to get the meeting started, all the while thinking 'What would Sisko do.'

"Mr. O'Brien, B'Elanna... have any of you scanned the shielding that the terrorists are using?" Tom started.

"Yes sir, that's the first thing we did." O'Brien told him, eyeing the younger man skeptically. He had wanted to pull Tom aside and take charge but he decided to give the boy a chance. However if he came up with a stupid idea, he could always do it then. "It's a standard modulation comparable to our ships bubble shielding."

"But we've been monitoring it and we did find one weakness." B'Elanna spoke up. "Every twenty five minutes a huge gap opens in the shields on the northern side of the city and it lasts for at least fifty seconds."

"Well couldn't we just start to beam our people aboard every time that gap opens?" Tom asked.

"That would be ill-advised." Tuvok spoke up. "If the terrorists take notice that our shipmates are disappearing I believe that they would proceed in killing off the rest of the crew."

"What if we use a shuttle pod?" Tom asked. "I could send you guys down to the planet and..."

"Also ill-advised." Tuvok cut him off. "They warned us if we tried any rescue attempt that they would immediately execute the crew. If they see us approaching in a shuttle pod, I have no reason to believe that they won't go through with their threat."

"Plus the standard shuttle pods we have onboard are too slow." B'Elanna added. "First it would have to break orbit and then go through that shielding. By the time it would make it even close to the surface the shields would close back up and we'd be spotted."

"We have to do something and fast." Ro spoke up. "Me and Seska have been monitoring their com-traffic. They keep referring to a freighter coming into orbit in a couple of days and then a big event happening."

"We think that they're going to kill the entire crew then." Seska finished for her.

"So what ideas have you come up with, sir?" Valerie asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"I... I..."

"I have an idea." Seven spoke up, trying to cover for Tom's stammering. "I've been thinking of ways to get past Krowtonan space for a few days now and my conclusion of what to do is relevant to our situation now."

"Well don't leave us in suspense." Valerie replied as she looked at Seven sharply. "What do you have planned?"

"I've found a loophole in the treaty of Algeron." Seven replied as she matched her glare. "My father and I were working on a faster specially designed shuttle craft before we were pulled into the Delta Quadrant and..."

"Wait.. wait... wait..." O'Brien cut her off. "You've found a loophole in the treaty of Algeron? Impossible. I've looked at that bloody thing for years and I've never seen a loophole."

"But I have." Seven told him. "Paragraph four sub-section B states without the explicit permission of the Romulan empire, no species belonging to the United Federation of Planets shall operate, own, or develop cloaking technology for use in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as it would violate said agreement with the Romulan party."

"Exactly." O'Brien told her. "So what loophole did you find in that?"

"We're in the Delta Quadrant." Tuvok informed him, as the whole room started to look at each other.

"Exactly." Seven told them, drawing every eye in the room back to her. "I've scanned the specs of the cloaking device that the original Ares crew used into our database long before we left the Alpha Quadrant. I see where they made their mistakes in installing it and it would be... child's play to adapt it to a shuttle."

"How long would it take to finish the shuttle you were working on and then install the cloak?" Tom asked.

"About another sixteen hours." Seven replied.

"Mr. O'Brien I want you and Valerie to take the first eight hours and start working on the shuttle." Tom ordered.

"I'm not an engineer." Valerie informed him.

"No but you're an expert at Tactical." Tom said giving her a warm smile, despite her attitude. "I need you to transfer as much tactical data to the ship as you can and I'll be down later on to handle navigational data."

"Yes sir." Valerie said in surprise at Tom pulling everything together. 'It's about time somebody recognized me.' she thought to herself.

"Seven... and B'Elanna." Tom said as he blew out a breath at what he was about to say next. "I need the both of you to handle the last eight hours of fixing the ship. I know you two have a history together but the crew needs both of your expertise to finish that shuttle and install the cloaking device."

"Yes... sir." Seven replied as she turned and gave B'Elanna a hard look. To her credit B'Elanna didn't turn away.

"Good." Tom went on. "Tuvok, I want you to make sure that you and the others are ready for what's on the surface. As much as I hate to say this but you have the kill order just in case anything goes wrong on that planet."

"Yes sir." Tuvok said with a nod of his head, before turning to Seska and Ro. "I would suggest you two get some rest. The next few hours will be very difficult to say the least."

"Yes, sir." Seska and Ro grumbled out together.

"All right, everybody knows what they're supposed to do." Tom said nervously, as he looked around the room. He hoped against hope that this plan would work. "Dismissed."

As he sat there with his head in his hands, a hand gently touched Tom on the shoulder. Expecting it to be Seven, he looked up and was surprised when he saw it was his old classmate from the Academy. Giving him a nod of approval, Ro Laren walked out of the room to join the others.

Asir City

"My... my head." Chakotay said with a wince. Looking up, from his position on the floor, he saw that Dax was cradling his head in her lap.

"You should lie still." Dax told him, even as he sat up to get more comfortable. "You have a really nasty bruise on the side of your head."

"What happened?" he asked, as he looked around to see most of the crew standing around.

Before Dax could answer his question, they heard a scuffle somewhere behind them. Turning they saw one of the terrorists, placing an energy rifle into the small of the back of Ben and Kira, leading them to where they were.

"Sivok." the Asirian said to his leader. "I caught these two in a cabana. They were engaged in chewmaloc."

As Sivok started to laugh, Ben and Kira were roughly pushed down to the ground near Dax, Odo, and Chakotay. Getting a good look at them, Dax moved over and saw that both of their eyes were dilated. Seeing that both of them were acting strangely, she could only conclude that they were drugged. With a sigh, she knew that at least with Ben they had a better chance of getting out of this, but in the state he was in now... All she could do was be hopeful and wonder if anybody from the ship could do anything.

The Ares

Sickbay

Tom walked into Sickbay with a terrible headache, the pain of which seemed to pound between his ears. He had tried getting some sleep after he helped Valerie in the shuttle bay, but he had merely rolled over in bed for a few hours before getting up and walking around the ship. Seeing that Doctor Erin wasn't around, he called on the computer.

"Computer, activate Doctor Erin."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Erin greeted as she shimmered into existence.

"I have a really bad headache, Doc." Tom told her as she narrowed her eyes.

"Is this a real headache or are you using this as an excuse to come and see me?" she asked.

"It's the real thing." Tom replied with a smile, despite the pain of his headache as he sat down on the bio-bed.

Picking up her tricorder she began to scan him. "Have you been under any stress as of late, Mr. Paris?" she asked.

"More like terrified." Tom told her. "As it stands right now, I'm in command of the ship."

"You?" Erin questioned, with a raise of her eyebrow.

"You don't have to sound so surprised about it." Tom replied with a roll of his eyes.

"It's not that." Erin replied as she injected the contents of a hypospray into his neck. "I just think that's a heck of a promotion."

"I wish it was that simple." Tom told her honestly. "But the entire Bridge crew are being held hostage on a planet called Asir. Since I'm the only Bridge officer left on the ship I'm in charge."

"Well I'm sure that you'll do your best to rescue the crew." Erin replied, trying to reassure him.

"People could die because of me." Tom said, as he stared deep into the holograms eyes. "What if my best isn't good enough?"

"It will be." Erin told him, as she put a hand on his shoulder. "If you don't believe in yourself how can you expect the others too? If it means anything, I believe in you."

"Thanks doc." Tom replied with a smile as he jumped off of the bio-bed. "I feel better all ready."

"Well that's what I'm here for." the Doctor said with a smile of her own as Tom headed for the door. "And Mr. Paris..."

"Yeah, Doc?" Tom asked, turning around slightly.

"Don't forget to shut me off."

"Computer, deactivate EMH." Tom said as the Doctor disappeared with a wave. Letting out a sigh, he headed towards the shuttle bay to see how his girl and B'Elanna were doing.

Shuttle Bay One

"Wow." was the first word that came out of B'Elanna's mouth as she saw the partially constructed ship that Seven and Ben had made. She had talked to Sergeant O'Brien before they switched shifts and he had told her that it featured a warp streamlined tetraburnium alloy hull, dynametric tailfins, retractable warp nacelles, parametallic hull plating, unimatrix shielding, and a Borg-inspired weapon system, including photonic missiles.

"Mr. O'Brien managed to complete more work then I anticipated." Seven told her, choosing to ignore her adulation. "The only work that is required of us now is to install the cloaking device and fix other minor problems with structural integrity."

Not saying anything, B'Elanna followed her into the back of the ship and towards the cockpit, where both of them stopped in their tracks. As they looked at the helm, instead of panels the flight controls were custom twentieth century control panels.

"What happened to the regular controls?" B'Elanna asked. "Did you install these?"

"I suspect this was Tom's doing." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow. "We should just concentrate on the task at hand. We can correct this... problem at a later time."

With that said the both of them got started on the ship and only spoke when necessary as it pertained to the vessel. After the first hour, B'Elanna gritted her teeth. She hated making apologies.

"When I was twelve after... after my father left me and my mother we went to live on Qo'noS." B'Elanna started. "Eventually my mom pulled me out of the Federation school that I was attending and took me to a Klingon monastery in order to teach me honor and discipline. Those were some of the worst years of my life and without my father there... anyway I didn't fit in there either and one day I ran away. I've never told anyone this but there was a large lake a few miles away from the monastery that my mom used to take me to all the time. I just wanted to clear my mind and go for a little dip and..."

"Why are you telling me this?" Seven interrupted.

"Because I wanted you to know that I almost drowned too." B'Elanna replied as she met her gaze. "My mother had been tracking me the whole time and she pulled me out of the lake. I can only imagine how she felt that day because she almost lost me. Look I'm sorry about what happened to your brother, because hell... it almost happened to me. I just don't want you thinking I'm some kind of uncaring monster."

"I do not think that at all." Seven admitted. "Jake and I are very close. I was only angry that I almost lost him and now that we are so far apart, honestly I don't know if I'll ever see him again."

"If I have anything to do about it we'll get home soon." B'Elanna promised. "And I can tell that your dad adores you and you have my word that we'll get him back in one piece."

Seven had wanted to ask, B'Elanna why her father left but decided not too, because she didn't want to spoil the moment. "My brother wrote several stories for me that I am turning into holo-novels." Seven told her. "When I am done with the newest one would you like to join me in the holodeck?"

"I'd like that." B'Elanna replied with a smile. As they started to get back to work, Tom suddenly popped his head into the compartment.

"Hey, how are my two favorite girls getting along?" he asked with a smile, as Seven lightly tossed a dirty towel at his head.

"Explain?" Seven asked, pointing at Helm control.

"I... well for once I wanted to actually feel the ship and not just hit panels." he explained. "So I asked Sgt. O'Brien to install a new console."

"Captain or no Captain.. do not mess with the designs of my ship without consulting me." she told him as she put a finger on his chest.

"Yes, ma'am." Tom replied with wide eyes and a smile. He'd never tell her but he liked when a woman cracked his whip, even if it was just a little.

"I am glad we've reached an agreement." Seven said as she spun on her heel and got back to work. "Now either assist us or leave."

"Wow you really know how to make friends." B'Elanna commented with a chuckle as Tom joined in.

"Hey what did you decide to name her anyway?" he asked. "I was thinking we could call her the Delta Flyer."

"My father and I decided to name her the Defiant."

Deck F

MACO Training Room

"Ha!" Valerie shouted out as she did a high sidekick. As she went for another one Seska blocked her leg.

"I don't know why you're practicing hand to hand." Seska said as she let go of her leg. "Especially when we have these babies." she went on as she made a show of holding up her sniper phaser rifle. O'Brien and Seven had made all of them personalized weapons, modified with Borg technology before they had come to Asir. If there was one thing Seska knew it was weapons and she knew the one she held had to be ten years more advanced then anything Starfleet had to offer.

"Corporal Valerie is making a wise decision." Tuvok spoke up from beside her. "We do not know what lies ahead of us on that planet and we should be prepared for anything."

"I tend to agree with Seska on this one." Ro spoke up, joining in the conversation with her own rifle in hand. Honestly she didn't like Seska much because there was just something about her. "This thing could probably take down a shuttle with no problem."

"Look alive!" Sgt. O'Brien yelled out as he and Tom walked into the room with a rolling table. As the team immediately snapped to attention, Tom pushed the table between them and smiled.

"At ease." Tom said as he looked around at the group. "Your mission is going to start in thirty minutes and we've already tested the cloak. It works and I thought that if you're going to do this mission, then I want you to do it in style."

As they looked down on the table they saw the standard 22nd century combat uniform worn by MACO personnel which was a two piece uniform with matching undergarment, gloves and boots. The overall color of the combat uniform and boots were gray with white, black, and brown camouflage effects. The belt, gloves and undergarments were a brown color.

"All right everybody let's suit up!" O'Brien yelled, mostly in Tom's ear. He had never seen the Irishman so fired up before. "We have a job to do."

"Yes, Sarge!" the group yelled back as they grabbed the uniforms with their names on them.

After about fifteen minutes of changing, they walked out of their locker rooms fully dressed in their uniforms and armed to the teeth with weapons. All of them carried standard weaponry of the MACO's with the exception of Valerie and Seska. Valerie was the hand to hand expert and carried two stun batons, one on her back and the other on her left side holstered by her equipment belt. While Seska carried her modified sniper rifle.

"We're ready, sir." O'Brien addressed Tom as he placed his phaser rifle over his shoulder.

"I'll be accompanying you to the surface." Tom told them. "You need a good pilot and..."

"No offense son but your place is on this ship." O'Brien told him sharply. "We got this. Isn't that right, MACO's!?"

"Yes, sir!" the group shouted back, with the exception of Tuvok of whom just said the words.

"I said isn't that right, MACO's!?" O'Brien yelled again as he turned to look at his team.

"Yes, sir!" they yelled back again.

"All right maggots let's move out!" O'Brien shouted as he and his team of MACO's ran in unison out of the room.

"Wow, he's excited." Tom said aloud as he watched them run out of the room.

Asir City

Night

Sivok watched the terrified Ares crew with delight as most of them sat down on the ground, presumably accepting their grim fates. His smile only deepened as he found that his men had caught Chancellor Keslor. Now he could kill him along with the rest of the Ares crew and take his place.

His ears twitching from side to side, like a dog, he heard an almost whistling sound in the distance. His men hearing the advancing noise too, they walked over to him and looked up into the sky as the Defiant decloaked.

Before Sivok could shout out his orders to his men, the MACO's, with the exception of Sgt. O'Brien, slid down ropes from the side of the ship and started firing at the rebel Asirians.

"It's about time." Odo grumbled, as he morphed his arm and made it extend out. Hitting a couple of Asirians in the face, he walked out into the night and started his assault.

Seeing what Odo had just done, deeply disturbed Chakotay because he didn't know that the other man was a shape-shifter. Shaking that thought out of his mind he took what was happening as his cue and stood up and punched an Asirian in the stomach, making him double over in pain. With a right hook to the face, he sent him down to the ground unconscious. Taking his weapons, Chakotay handed an energy pistol to Dax and the both of them ran over to help the MACO team, just as the other members of the crew joined in on the fight.

* * *

As the MACO team started to spread out and onto the main street, Tuvok ducked under a clumsy left hook from a would be attacker. Hitting the Asirian in the gut with the butt of his rifle, Ro popped the terrorist in the forehead sending him crashing to the ground unconscious. Not losing their stride, the Vulcan went to secure a position when another alien stood in their way wielding twin swords. As he twirled them around his body at an incredible speed, Tuvok merely raised an eyebrow at his antics. Shooting him with his phaser rifle, Tuvok and Ro walked over his downed body and squatted down behind some bushes next to a building.

"We are in position." Tuvok said into his ear communicator. Turning his head, he looked up to see Seska climbing onto a neighboring building with her sniper rifle, strapped to her back. Looking further down the street however he had lost track of where Valerie was.

* * *

Valerie got separated from her team and jogged down an alley, as three Asirian terrorists gave chase. Coming up to a wall and seeing that she had nowhere else to go, she decided to make her final stand.

"Look boys." the lead Asirian spoke as he twirled a katana sized blade around in his hands. As the little light from the moon glistened off the blade, her heart sank as she saw that he had a menacing smile on his face. "We have a little lost alien girl on our hands. Whatever should we do with her?"

As he asked that, his foot flashed up, headed straight towards Valerie's head. In a lightning-quick move, she grabbed the leg with both hands, then swung him off the ground in a circle, sending him to crash into the garbage strewn alleyway, his blade flying.

Slowly taking the stun baton off of her back and then her side, she suddenly twirled them around sending a whistling sound in the night air. Giving them a smile of her own, she waited for their attack.

The second alien, blade in hand, rushed her, just as the third Asirian took a battle axe from his back holster. Valerie sidestepped the attack, as the knife slashed through her new uniform, just as the third man whistled the axe past her head, missing it by inches. Going into an attack that Kira had taught her, she side kicked the male with the knife in the stomach while simultaneously spinning and hitting the other terrorist across the side of the head with the stun baton, knocking him unconscious.

Enraged at seeing his companion get knocked out by a woman, the knife wielding Asirian lunged at her from behind. Sensing the attack coming Valerie spun, hitting him in the chest and his leg with such force that it sent him sprawling to the ground.

As Valerie stood up, slightly winded, a phaser shot suddenly whizzed past her shoulder. Turning, she was just in time to see the first terrorist that tried to attack her, fall to the ground dead and with a smoking hole in his chest. Looking up and off into the night, she suddenly smiled, before putting her hand to her ear.

"Thanks, Ses." she said into her ear communicator.

'**I'll always have you covered, Val.'** Seska said back.

* * *

After talking to Valerie, Seska aimed her sniper rifle off into the night and adjusted it's side night scope. Seeing a red eyed alien snatch up Captain Sisko and put a knife under his throat, her finger nervously twitched over the guns trigger. She could easily kill Sisko and Chakotay would then command the ship or at the very least she could let the alien get rid of Ben and then Kira of which was holding onto the Captain like a life line and her hands would be clean. Not having much time to think her plans through, she thought to herself that she'd been around humans too long.

"Damn it!" she swore as she shot Sivok, perfectly between the eyes, killing him on the spot. Adjusting her scope, she saw that the others had managed to squash the rebellion. Standing up from her position on the roof of a building, she yelled out in triumph as the Defiant landed on the ground.

The Ares

Sickbay

"Oh hold still you big baby." Doctor Erin told Chakotay as she tried to heal his cut on the side of his head. Finally healing it with her dermal regenerator, she gave him a shot in the neck with her hypospray to help kill the pain. "There you should feel better in an hour or so, Commander. Now go and get some sleep. That's an order."

"Yes ma'am." Chakotay replied with a smile and then a wince. As he headed towards the door, Seven and Tom walked into the room. Giving them both a look, he nodded at them and then walked out of Sickbay.

"Doctor how is my father doing?" Seven asked as she walked over to her.

"He and Major Kira are doing fine." Erin replied. "I checked their blood stream and it seems that they had somehow ingested some form of aphrodisiac. I've purged it from their bodies and they're sleeping right now."

"Actually we're not." Ben replied as he and Kira walked over to them. Giving his girl a welcoming hug, he suddenly looked over at Tom. "Sgt. O'Brien told me about how you took charge of the Bridge and helped to organize the MACO team. Good job and I want you to take the Bridge and make sure we get the hell away from this planet. I think all of the senior staff is too tired to do it at the moment."

"Yes sir." Tom said with a smile as he headed for the door.

"Tom... son." Ben called out as the younger man turned around and looked back at him. "I'm proud of you and thank you for coming to our rescue."

With a smile and a nod Tom walked out of the room to take over the Bridge. With a smile of his own, Ben suddenly turned back to his daughter.

"A cloaking device?" he asked, as he gave her a look.

"I will explain everything in my report." Seven promised. "Father I am... happy to see you again."

"I'm happy to see you too." Ben told her. "And I look forward to reading your report."

"After I regenerate, I will place it on your desk the first thing in the morning." Seven replied. "Father... Kira." she said as she walked out of the room.

Seeing that Kira walked out of the room too, Ben suddenly went down the corridor and grabbed her arm.

"Major I think we need to talk." Ben said as he let her go.

"Don't worry, I'll tell the MACO team they did a good job and you'll give them a commendation." Kira replied nonchalantly.

"That's not what I want to talk about and you know it." Ben said seriously. "We need to discuss what happened on Asir. I need to know how you feel."

"All we did was have sex." Kira said as she met his gaze evenly. "We were poisoned with some kind of drug. What's there to discuss? I don't have feelings for you and you don't have feelings for me. It's that simple."

"Speak for yourself the next time." Ben said as he walked closer to her. "Because I do have feelings for you. I've had them since the first day you went off on me." he said with a smile, even though he was serious.

"What is this?" Kira asked suspiciously. "Am I just some kind of... of exotic thing to you?"

"No." Ben told her. "You're smart, beautiful, and just as stubborn as I am. And if you really take time to get to know me you'd know that I'm not the type to just sleep with a woman and not talk to her again. I know that we've only known each other for a short period of time but I feel some kind of connection with you. Now I'll tell you the truth. If what we did down there really didn't mean anything to you and you don't have any feelings for me, I'll leave you alone and never bring this up again. But if you really have feelings for me I want you to know that I'll chase after your heart more than any man has ever tried with you."

Caught off guard and not being able to come up with anything to say, Kira just stared at him. Truth be told when they had first met she felt strangely attracted to him and it only stood as confirmation that Kai Opaka told her that their fates were intertwined. Knowing that she needed to sort through her feelings about him, she stood on her tiptoes and lightly kissed him on the nose, before walking off.

Unknown to them but Odo stood in the shadows watching the whole thing. Knowing that he would never have Nerys' heart now he walked off towards his room to regenerate.

A/N If you want to know how the Defiant looks, it's just the Delta Flyer with a cloaking device and those tail fins that Tom wanted to put on it in Voyager. I also know that people might gripe about the whole cloaking device thing, but the full text of the Treaty of Algeron was never published, at least not to my knowledge, so I decided to use a little word play with it. I hope you guys enjoyed this anyway and as always, please review. I also wanted to say two things somebody asked me how Valerie looks and she was actually in an episode of Voyager called In the Flesh, when a member of species 8472 impersonated her. In my story she just wasn't a Commander yet. The second thing was even though they were in the cave together in the chapter Body Parts, Chakotay never saw Odo transform, until now. I just wanted to clear that up.


	29. Chapter 27 A Traitor Amongst Us pt1

A/N Takes place a month after chapter 26.

Chapter 27

A Traitor Amongst Us pt. 1

_Captain's Log Stardate: 48658.2 After reviewing Seven's proposal about the cloaking device and studying the treaty of Algeron myself, I decided to have her, B'Elanna, and Sgt. O'Brien install it. After three weeks in Krowtonan space however, we hit pockets of sub-space mines, forcing us to leave their space. Luckily for us the ship wasn't badly damaged. According to Seven we still managed to shave a couple of years off of our journey. While she is recalculating a new course for us to take and while we are out of clear and present danger, I've decided to put my efforts towards Seska._

Captain's Personal Dining Room

"So where did you learn how to cook?" Kira asked as she placed another spoon full of shrimp pasta in her mouth.

"From my father." Ben answered as he wiped at his mouth with a napkin. "When me and my siblings were young he used us as his little taste testers." he told her with a smile, thinking of days long past. "He made sure that all of us knew how to cook. I don't know why my sister stinks at cooking but we all know how to cook nonetheless."

"Well maybe you could teach me how to cook like this someday." Kira replied after another bite of food.

"Believe me, nothing would make me happier." Ben told her softly. "You have something on your mouth." As she took a napkin and went to wipe it off, he smiled and leaned over the table. "Let me."

As he lightly dabbed at her chin, he fought the impulse to kiss her full on the lips. In the back of his mind he remembered when he had first met his wife and had first cooked for her, she had gotten food on her face and he had wiped it off for her and kissed her on the lips for the first time. He knew how Jennifer felt for him and that's why he kissed her, but with Kira he couldn't begin to understand how she felt because she wouldn't let him in. Taking his hand back, he decided to start another conversation.

"I think it's finally beginning to happen." he started as he took a bite out of his steamed vegetables. "Both the Maquis crew and Starfleet crew are starting to get along."

"Speaking of getting along when are we going to put our plan together to deal with Seska?" she asked.

"It's already in effect." Ben answered. "And as much as it pains me to say this, after reading O'Brien's report on her, I've decided to alter my plan slightly to give her a fair chance."

"Why?" Kira nearly shouted, with wide eyes as she stood to her feet. "You know what the hell she is. That alone is enough to condemn her!"

"Major that's enough!" Ben snapped, as she looked at him angrily. Taking a breath, he put his hand on hers. "Please just... just sit down and enjoy your meal. The way Odo, Tuvok, and I have this planned out it will either show that she's on our side or if she's true to her nature."

"But why are you giving her a chance?" she asked again as she took a seat, taking her hand back in the process.

"Because she did save our lives, remember?" Ben asked. "Isn't that enough to give her a chance?"

"I hope you know what you're doing." Kira told him as she picked her fork back up.

"I hope so too." he admitted as he let out a breath.

Finishing most of her meal, Kira was about to take a sip of water until she suddenly sneezed. As she was about to say something to Ben she suddenly sneezed again.

"Are you all right, Nerys?" Ben asked with genuine concern. "You don't think you're allergic to the shrimp do you?"

"No...I'm... I'm fine." she assured as she met his gaze. As she tried to compose herself and drink her water she sneezed again. "Maybe I should see the doctor." she said as she stood to her feet and walked out of the room with another sneeze, Seska passing her as she walked into the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Seska asked as she walked fully into the room and stood at attention.

"She's going to the doctor now to see what's wrong." Ben replied as he gave her a smile before clearing the dishes away. "At ease and please have a seat."

'I wonder what the hell this is about?' Seska thought to herself, as she subconsciously rubbed on her small hand phaser, she had hidden in her pants. If anything went wrong at least she had somebody to take with her.

"Would you like something to eat?" he asked as he walked back in the room.

"No sir, I... I'd just like to know what's going on?" Seska asked as Ben smiled.

"Ahh, that's a quality in a good officer." Ben said as he sat down across from her. "Someone that likes to get to the point. I brought you here to let you know that I've been watching you."

'Shit.' she thought to herself. 'Does he know?'

"We're having a lot of problems in Engineering so I've decided to put Sergeant O'Brien back there to help B'Elanna." Ben went on. "After the report he left on you, I can only conclude that your talents are being wasted being a Private and I'd like for you to move into his position as Sgt. of the MACO team."

"Si... Sir?" Seska asked as she sat up straighter in her chair. "Bu... but what about Tuvok or Valerie? Wouldn't they be next in line to take O'Brien's spot?"

"Under normal circumstances yes, but I don't trust Mr. Tuvok just yet." Ben told her. "There's something about him that just seems wrong... but you've proven yourself to me. You could have easily let Kira and myself get killed by that alien on planet Asir but you stepped up and proved that you are truly a member of this crew."

"I... I was just doing my job, sir." she told him, relaxing some as he poured a shot glass of whiskey for himself.

"Still you saved my life and the least I can do is thank you for that." he told her as he indicated that he wanted to pour her a drink. Nodding her head, he poured her a glass and handed it to her. Downing the bitter liquid in one gulp, she frowned as it burned at her throat. "Sgt. Seska... Seska is that your first name or your last?"

"It's my first name." she told him. "My family name or if that's what you'd call it is Mila but I hate going by that name."

"Why?" Ben asked seriously.

"Because the name Mila in Bajoran means abandoned." Seska said as she met his gaze. "I never got to know them because I was abandoned on Bajor after the Cardassians killed my family. I never told anybody this but I really don't know my family name. That's why the Bajorans that took me in called me Mila."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I really am." Ben told her with a sad look. "But look on the bright side. Out here you have a chance at a new beginning, a fresh start from what happened in the Alpha Quadrant, the Cardassians, and the Maquis. I'd suggest you take it."

"Thank you for this opportunity, sir." Seska replied as she stood to her feet and headed towards the door. "I won't let you down."

"I know that you won't." Ben told her. "Your duties will start tomorrow morning... oh and I wanted to make a special request."

"Yes, sir?" Seska asked as her hand went up to her temple. Suddenly her head was swimming.

"I'd like for you to keep a close eye on Mr. Tuvok and others that you see him consorting with." Ben said as he gave her a look. "Report anybody or anything you deem suspicious directly to me."

"I'll do... do my best, sir." she said sleepily as she walked out of the room.

Standing to his feet, Ben poured his drink out in the sink and placed Seska's glass in the recycler. With a sigh, he tapped at his combadge. "Sisko to Odo, are you alone Constable?"

**'Yes sir.'** Odo replied.

"Constable, it's started."

* * *

B'Elanna let out a hardy chuckle as she and Seven walked out of the holodeck wearing cowgirl outfits.

"Did... did you see Johnny Ringo's face when we apprehended him?" B'Elanna asked through her fit of chuckling as she looked back at Seven.

"You threw him over a table." Seven stated with merely a raised eyebrow.

"Well he had it coming." B'Elanna told her as she crossed her arms over her chest. "He's the one that made that comment about women law enforcement. So how's the next program coming along?"

"I'll be done with it in a couple weeks." Seven replied as they started to walk down the corridor. "I checked and the holodeck time is being used by someone straight up until the next couple of days. I wanted us to be able to do something now and I just thought that this program would be more... relaxing."

"Relaxing?" the half Klingon woman asked with a laugh. "We got shot at in that western program. How much more dangerous could this new holo-novel be for that one to be relaxing?"

"It's much more dangerous, believe me." Seven answered.

"All right now you've gotten my attention." B'Elanna told her. "If you're not going to tell me about it can I bring a few friends when you're done with it?"

"No, I don't mind." Seven said as she turned to look at her. "The program was designed for several individuals to be in it and I was thinking of bringing Tom anyway."

"Okay, I'll let my friends know then." B'Elanna told her as she started to walk in the other direction. "Do I have to bring anything?"

"Just bring a bladed weapon of your choice and wear all black." Seven called out to her.

"All right, I'll see you later."

* * *

Kira walked out of Sickbay in a state of disbelief of what the doctor had just told her. No wonder she had been sneezing like crazy. Not watching where she was going, she bumped into someone.

"Major, are you all right?" Ben asked. "I came down here to see how you were doing. What did the doctor say?"

'He's going to find out in the next couple of months anyway.' Kira thought to herself as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "She said... she said that I was pregnant."

Ben's Quarters

Thirty Minutes Later

"You wished to see me father?" Seven asked as she walked into the room.

"Yeah... yeah come in." Sisko replied with a big smile on his face. Getting up off of the light brown couch, that he and Kira were sitting on, he approached Seven and picked her up off of her feet, twirling her around in the process. "I have the most amazing news."

"Do you really have to tell everybody?" Kira asked, as Ben turned around and looked at her.

"She's going to be the first one that I've told." Ben replied as he let Seven go. "And she is my daughter."

"Father, what is going on?" Seven asked as she looked from Ben to Kira. She'd never seen her father so happy since before they left Earth.

"Kira's pregnant with my child." Ben told her. "You're going to have a little sister."

"A sis.. a sister?" Seven asked, taken aback.

"Yes and me and Kira have decided to name her, Ayana. Tabrin." Ben and Kira said the names of what they wanted to name their child at the same time.

"Ayana?" Kira asked.

"Tabrin?" Ben asked in turn.

"Yeah, Tabrin." Kira told him as she stood to her feet and pointed a finger in his chest. "That was my Grandmother's name and let me tell you something buddy, if I'm going to carry this baby around in my stomach for another four months, I'm..."

"Hey, you won't get any arguments from me." Ben cut her off. After all the darkness and gloom they've experienced in the Delta Quadrant, finally things were starting to look up. "I have some things to prepare for Tabrin's arrival. I'll see you later Seven... mommy." he said to Kira with a smile as he walked out of the room.

"That man is... grrr." Kira huffed as she sat back down on the couch, wondering what she had gotten herself into. If she ever met the person that slipped her a mickey on planet Asir, she would kill them. Letting out a sigh, she started to rub at her stomach.

"My father is a good man." Seven told her, making Kira look up at her. "I must admit that when he took me in that it was a little... rough at first but now I couldn't imagine him not being in my life."

"How did you come into his life anyway?" Kira questioned. "He never told me."

"I'll answer your question in a moment." Seven told her as she sat down on the couch. "First, I... I just wanted to say that no matter what happens just please don't hurt my.. dad. He's been through so much over the last few years and he needs something to hold on to. Something... something that's real."

As Seven kept talking, Kira just stared at the girl... no young woman before her in wonder. Every since she had met her she always seemed so regal, unfeeling, and detached but now she saw how vulnerable she really was. She had finally dropped that guard she was holding up and showed her what was really ticking behind that tough Borg exterior. Looking into Seven's eyes as she talked about her father, Kira wished that she had spent more time with hers. She couldn't even be there for her father, before he had died, because she had to go fight the Cardassians during the Occupation. She would forever remember that look on his face when he had begged her to stay with him, when he was hurt. But she needed to prove herself to the others, so she could move up in the ranks of the rebellion. When she had came back for him, like she had promised, he had already passed on without anybody around him that loved him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt your dad." Kira assured, shaking those dark thoughts of her past out of her head. "I might kick him every now and again, but I won't hurt him."

With that said Seven started to tell Kira about her past with Ben and how he took her in and loved her as if she were his own child. She also learned about how strongly Seven felt for Jake and how desperate she was to get back home to him and that now she'd have a surprise, in the form of a little sister, to bring to him.

Deck F

The Next Day

Seska walked down a corridor on deck F, happy that her headache from the day before had cleared up. It had gotten so bad that she had wanted to see Doctor Erin, but she didn't want her getting too close or she might discover what she really was. As an added bonus for her, Kira had cancelled MACO training today, so now she could just relax.

"Hey where are you headed?" Chakotay asked, as he walked around the corner.

"I'm just taking a walk." Seska told him with a smile.

"Mind if I walk with you?" he asked, with a smile of his own.

"You know that I could never turn you away." she replied, as they started to walk together.

"Ben told me about your promotion." he started. "Congratulations and that should make everything a lot easier."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the people in charge of this ship aren't really treating us fairly." Chakotay replied as they stopped walking and looked around. "I mean how the hell can you have someone be your Chief Engineer but they don't hold any rank? B'Elanna has to ask Ensigns or O'Brien to give her access to things that should already be at her finger tips. Ben isn't fooling me. I told him that I wouldn't be his little token Maquis officer but he's trying to do it anyway. None of my people have any rank or authority on this ship. It's just me and now you."

"Are you saying that you want to start a mutiny?" Seska asked in shock. She had seen Chakotay fired up before but now there was just a different look in his eyes. A look that she couldn't describe.

"You're damn right that's what I'm saying." he replied as he turned to look at her. "I don't know about you but I don't want to spend the next seventy years out here chasing random anomalies and recording sensory data. I want to go home and I get the impression a lot of the crew agrees with me. Maquis and Starfleet. Look, we've been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now and I really like you Seska and I mean that as more then a friend. We've been through hell and back together and that's why I'm warning you that there's going to be some changes around here. Tuvok and all of the other Maquis and even half of the Starfleet crew are with me and when the guns start blasting, I don't want to see you get hurt. I need an answer so I can see what side you're on. Now are you with me or against me?"

For her part Seska actually thought about it, albeit for a second, as she looked Chakotay in the eyes. "I'm with you."

"Good." Chakotay replied with a cocksure smile. "Now this is what we're going to do."


	30. Chapter 28 A Traitor Amongst Us pt 2

A/N I'm sorry to do this to you guys and leave you on another cliffhanger but I'm having real bad internet issues right now. Until I get them solved I'll be on a brief hiatus. Plus I'm going to use that time to recharge and come up with more ideas for this story and to resolve these internet issues. Please review. I'd love to see what you guys think when I get back. And to my beta, yes I'm sure about the whole name thing. I've uploaded two chapters so go back and read the other one, so you'll know what's going on in this chapter.

Chapter 28

A Traitor Amongst Us pt. 2

"Get those knees up, MACO's!" Kira shouted as she stood back and watched Tuvok, Ro Valerie, and the teams new edition Ayala go through a physical fitness drill. "Tuvok, take over for me."

"Yes, ma'am." Tuvok replied as he took her place.

"What are you doing here?" Kira asked of Ben as she walked towards him.

"I have something very important to show you." he replied as he grabbed her by the arm and led her out of the room. No sooner than ten minutes later, Seska, Hogan and Chakotay strode into the room, carrying phaser rifles.

Seeing them come in, Tuvok gave his Commander a dark smile. "Is it time, sir?"

"Time?" Valerie asked as she and the others turned to look at Chakotay and Seska. "Time for what?"

"Time for us to take over the ship of course." Seska informed her with a smile.

Eyes going wide, Valerie attempted to slap at her combadge only for Chakotay to bring up his rifle. "Ahh ahh ahh." Chakotay softly chided. "You touch that combadge and I'll vaporize you faster than you'd think possible."

"You mean she's not one of us?" Seska asked in disappointment. She had thought for sure that Val would have joined in on this.

"No, I'd never join in on a mutiny." Valerie told her as she looked around and saw Ro, Tuvok, and Ayala gathering weapons with sinister looks in their eyes. "I'm a Starfleet officer and I'll die that way." as she said that Tuvok did a Vulcan nerve pinch on her, dropping her instantly to the floor.

"Well the MACO team has been neutralized." Chakotay said with a dry chuckle as he looked down at Valerie. "Ayala take her to the Brig and then join the others and secure this deck. Hogan, go to Engineering and get ready for my signal. Tuvok, Seska, you're with me."

* * *

"Ben, I don't have time for this." Kira complained as he put his hands over her eyes and started to lead her somewhere. "I have a MACO meeting to get back too."

"You can let someone else handle that." Ben said into her ear. "I just wanted you to see this." as he said that, he removed his hands from her eyes and Kira looked around and her eyes went wide. Ben had created a baby room, with pink walls in the second bedroom in his quarters.

There was a small white and pink colored bookshelf with what seemed to be filled with children's books, in the corner of the room. On the back wall was white and gold trimmed dresser and as a centerpiece to the room Kira saw a baby crib with her daughter's name on it.

"You did all of this?" Kira asked as she turned and looked at him.

"It took all day, but yes." he said as he finally got a smile out of her.

"It's... it's beautiful." Kira replied as she started to get misty eyed. "Hold on, who said the baby was going to stay in your quarters?" she asked as Ben lightly chuckled and looked at her incredulously.

"We'll talk about that later." Ben said calmly as he put his hand on the small of her back. "Let's go to the Mess Hall and I'll fix you something to eat." as they walked towards the door, however it didn't swish open. Trying again, nothing. Slapping at his combadge, all Ben got was a negative beep. "What the hell is going on?"

The Bridge

Leaving their phaser rifles on the turbolift, Chakotay and the others made sure that their small hand phasers were safely tucked away in it's hidden compartment.

"Is there a problem, Commander?" Odo asked, as he saw part of the MACO team accompanying the other man.

"No, Constable." Chakotay replied as he flashed him with what was supposed to be a warm smile, but came off as a look a wolf would give a chicken before it got eaten. "We're just checking up on everything here."

"We haven't encountered anything unusual." Odo replied, not taking his eyes off of him.

"Good." Commander Chakotay replied as he looked back at Dax. "Dax, let's shut down those transporters and start that diagnostic we've been putting off."

"But..."

"You heard, Odo." Chakotay went on. "There's nothing going on right now and we really should be thinking about conserving power."

"Aye, sir." Dax replied as she typed into her console.

With a nod of his head, he then turned to Seven and B'Elanna who were both at the Engineering console."Have you finished upgrading the internal sensors, Ensign?"

"I'm working on it, sir." Seven replied as she turned around with a warm smile. With a sneer he turned his head.

"I hope so." he replied as he gave Seska a look. "Wait here." he ordered of her.

"May I be bold enough to ask if something is wrong, sir?" Odo asked, never taking his eyes off of Chakotay, even as someone came off of the turbolift and handed the other man a padd.

"No, it's just tomorrow's duty roster." Chakotay replied as he read the contents of the padd and smiled. "Chakotay to all hands. Let's do it."

"I knew it!" Odo growled out. Before he could do anything, Seska fired her phaser at him and the beam connected with his chest, causing Odo to splatter, literally, against the wall. She smiled a sickly smile as his remains dripped slowly down the console.

In a blur of action, Seven tried to stand up to do something, only for B'Elanna to put a phaser under her chin. "You didn't really think that we were friends now did you?" B'Elanna asked with a smile.

Hearing phaser fire, Chakotay looked over and saw Ayala stun Dax, of whom now was slumped over on her console. He wished that he could have brought her over to his side, because honestly he really liked the woman.

"Red alert!" Tom shouted as he ducked behind his helm console, a small hand phaser clutched in his hands. "Security to the Bridge!"

"You're wasting your time, Tom." Chakotay said as he ducked behind a console. Giving Tuvok a nod, the Vulcan started to circle around the other side. "All my teams have taken control of Security, Engineering and all key systems. Hell we even have the MACO team."

"You'll still never get away with this." Tom replied. "People will fight back."

"That's going to be a little difficult." Chakotay replied with a chuckle. "All your off-duty Starfleet friends have been locked down in quarters and the other half are on my team." as he said that, Tuvok finally made it over behind Tom and placed his phaser into the small of his back. With a sigh, Tom knew it was over and dropped his weapon. Giving Chakotay the okay, the Commander went on as he stood to his feet. "I guess you've made your choice. Believe me I'm going to take great pleasure in this." and with that he stunned Tom, sending him slumping hard to the floor.

"Don't think about it, Blondie." Seska chided Seven as she tried to move. "You try that again and I'll stun you and send you to lala land with your boyfriend."

"Chakotay why are you doing this?" Seven cried out, more than asked.

"Because I have too." he replied with a sigh. "The only thing I regret is having to hurt you like this again. But let's be honest there was no way you'd join me anyway after I betrayed your father like this."

**'Hogan to Chakotay.'**

"Go ahead." Chakotay responded, even as he still looked to Seven.

**'They're putting up a fight on E deck.'** Hogan informed him. **'We could use some help.'**

"Tuvok, Ayala, get these people to the brig." Chakotay said quickly. "Ro, take the helm and put us at an all stop. The rest of you are with me."

The ride in the turbolift was silent, as the group picked up their phaser rifles and set them to maximum stun.

"Stay low." Chakotay said as they made it to Deck E and heard phaser fire in the distance. Going further down the hallway in a crouch, someone quickly walked around the corner, almost making Chakotay shoot them. Relaxing some he saw that it was only Hogan.

"We've got to get moving." Hogan said frantically. "Some of Sisko's people are trying to set up a command center in the mess hall."

"We'll see about that." Chakotay said as he pulled out a stun grenade.

As all four of them ran along the corridor, Chakotay stepped forward to make the door to the Mess Hall open up and chucked the now activated grenade in the room. Hearing it explode he, Seska, Hogan, and B'Elanna rushed the room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Seska said to a crewman as he tried to open fire on her. "This rifle set on wide beam. I could take you all in one shot."

"Everybody your little rebellion is over!" Chakotay shouted to the Starfleet group. "Drop your weapons."

Making sure to take up all of the Starfleet officers weapons as they dropped them, B'Elanna looked over at Seska and gave her a dark smile."You did a good job today, Seska."

"It's just like old times huh?" she asked with a smile that B'Elanna didn't return.

"Just make sure you keep it up." B'Elanna replied, as Seska gave her a look. "I'm not as easy to win over as Chakotay. I know that Sisko talked to you before you decided to join our little group. I'm warning you that I'll be watching you."

"Chakotay to Engineering." Chakotay spoke up as he tapped at his combadge. "What's your status?"

**'Engineering is secure.'** a crewman said over the comline.

"Transporter rooms one and two, status?" Chakotay then asked.

**'Transporter Room one is under control.'** one of his fellow mutineers said over the comline.

**'Transporter room two is secure.'** another crewman told him.

"Shuttlebay, status?" the commander asked.

**'Shuttlebay is secured, Commander.'** Crewman Doyle told him.

With a smile Chakotay turned to B'Elanna and Seska. "I'll take care of the prisoners here. You two get some help and start rounding up the personnel that are still locked down in quarters. Bring them to Cargo Bay one."

"Okay." Seska replied as she gave B'Elanna a look. Grabbing her roughly around the waist Chakotay pulled her close and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, before whispering in her ear.

"Make sure to hurry up."

Ben's Quarters

As the door to his room slid open, Ben and Kira stood to their feet and walked to the door, only for Seska to stick a gun into his face.

"Seska what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ben demanded to know as she sneered at him.

"You know what this is, sir." she replied as she gave him a look before waving her rifle to the side indicating that she wanted him to come out. "Now move it!"

"So I see you're not going to take up my offer for a second chance?" Ben asked as he and Kira walked out of the room.

"This is my second chance." she informed him. "Now get moving!"

Cargo Bay One

"Get over there, with the rest of them." Seska ordered of Ben and Kira. Looking up Ben saw his entire bridge crew, with the exception of Odo, and the rest of his people standing together on one side of the room. Finding his daughter, he stood beside her as she held his hand.

"Where's Odo?" Kira asked of Tom as she stood beside him.

"She killed him." Tom replied.

"I said, no talking!" Seska snapped out.

"Chakotay, I can't believe this." Ben said as his eyes narrowed. "We went out of our way to rescue you and your crew from the Vidiians and I made your people members of my crew. Is this how you choose to repay me?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Sisko." Chakotay replied as he narrowed his own eyes. "I told you that I wouldn't be your little token Maquis officer. That's why I'm taking over your ship." as he said that, he smiled before addressing the whole crew. "Take a good look around you and I want you to think for a moment. I want you to think how easy it was for me to take over this ship and how incompetent your Starfleet senior officers are. Under my command, we won't let almighty Federation principles get in the way of opportunities and we won't be wasting precious time stopping to investigate every insignificant anomaly or debris that we come across. Especially one that gets our CMO killed." he said as he looked pointedly to Dax and then Sisko. "What we will do is use any means necessary to acquire technology that can shorten our journey. To hell with Starfleet regulations. I don't blame any of you for the mistakes of your leaders, so I'm giving you a choice. You can be put off the ship with your superiors or you can join us."

"To hell with that, Chakotay." Seska said as she gave B'Elanna a look. She would prove right here and now that she was still Maquis. "I say we kill all the senior officers and whoever doesn't want to join us will be killed with them."

"That's all I needed to hear." Ben said with a frown as he walked forward. "Computer, end program." as he said that the phaser rifle Seska was holding disappeared and the room turned into the black and green gridded area of the holodeck. Looking around all that remained was Seven, Kira, Ben, Chakotay, Tuvok, and Odo. All of which surrounded her and had their weapons trained on her, with the exception of Odo. "Well what do you have to say for yourself?"

The only word that came to mind, seeing as though she was tricked was short, sweet, and simple. "Shit." Seska replied with wide eyes.


	31. Chapter 29 A Traitor Amongst Us pt 3

A/N Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long. Here's the newest chapter.

Chapter 29

A Traitor Amongst Us pt. 3

"I must admit that your family background story was very convincing." Ben told Seska as he held up his phaser a little higher. "If I didn't know that you were lying, I would have bought it hook, line, and sinker."

"Ho... how...?" Seska gasped out.

"How did we do this?" Kira asked as she walked up to her. "We've known that you were a Cardassian ever since you've been onboard. We figured that you were sent by the Obsidian Order to infiltrate the Maquis and believe it or not but you've been in the holodeck for about two days. I wanted you arrested from the beginning but Ben wanted to give you a fair chance. Thanks for proving me right. I knew there was no way a Cardassian could reform."

"Give me another chance." Seska said, making everyone in the room look at her as if she had grown two heads.

"You've run out of chances!" Ben shouted as the walls of the holodeck seemed to shake. "I gave you an opportunity at a new life and this is the path that **you** chose. Constable, take her to the Brig, until me and Chakotay can figure out what to do with her."

"Come along." Odo replied as he grabbed her around the arm and started to take her out of the room. "So you think that you can blow me up? Harumph, that'll be the day."

"Wait, you can't do this!" Seska shouted as Odo took her all the way out of the room. "Chakotay, I only did this because of you. Don't let them do this..."

"I can't believe that, I had a Cardassian working with me this whole time." Chakotay said as he looked over to Ben. 'And that I had taken her as my girlfriend and lover.' he thought to himself. "I'm glad you told me."

As he said that, Tuvok looked over at Ben, who nodded. "It is my duty to inform you, Sir that I was assigned to infiltrate your crew. I am Lt. Tuvok from Starfleet intelligence."

"Et tu Tuvok?" Chakotay asked with a grin. If the Vulcan had said this some months back he would have actually been angry. "Damn was anybody actually working for me on the Val Jean?"

"From what we've gathered the rest of your crew were loyal to you." Ben replied with a grimace.

During Erin's maintenance check he had reprogrammed her to administer a strong sedative to several members of the Maquis and a few members of Starfleet that he thought could have been compromised, to see how they would react to a mutiny. To his surprise all of the Maquis stood up against Chakotay or just flat out didn't do anything while the mutiny was going on. After the program ended he had the Doctor to do surgery on them to wipe their memories of that day, with the only side effect being a bad headache. All that was left was Seska and she had proven what side she was on now.

He had already reprogrammed the Doctor back the way she was and had wiped her memory core clean of the events, because he had wanted to deal with Seska himself. Knowing that at the core of what he had done was wrong, Ben had written a formal letter to Starfleet about his unethical methods and had wrote in that the doctor didn't know what was going on. The only one that knew of his plan was Odo. On the bright side it would be nearly sixty years before he could be brought up on charges. But everything was worth it to make sure his crew and ship was safe. Guilty conscience be damned.

"Come with me to my Ready room." Ben said to Chakotay as he shook those thoughts out of his head. "We need to discuss what we're going to do with her."

Seven's Quarters

"What?" B'Elanna nearly shouted as Seven told her and Tom the truth about Seska. "You mean to tell me, I've been fighting beside one of those damn Cardies all this time?"

"Wow and you think you know people." Tom said with a chuckle. "I'm just glad she was caught before she could do any damage."

"How's Chakotay holding up?" B'Elanna asked as she sat down at Seven's desk. "He was dating her."

"I'm still not sure when my father informed him about Seska." Seven answered. "But he seemed to be... okay with what happened."

"Still though Chakotay is a very private man." B'Elanna replied as she picked up a picture of Jake and Seven. "Maybe I'll check on him later. Is this your famous brother the writer?"

"Yes." Seven replied with a smile.

"From the way that western program turned out, I wished that he had of made more then six stories." B'Elanna replied as she put the picture back down.

"You guys went to the holodeck without me?" Tom asked as he looked at the both of them. "I was looking forward to finishing that program with you."

"Don't worry, I'm working on another one." Seven informed him. "I should be done with it in about a week or so." Before Tom could say anything, Seven's door chime suddenly beeped. "Come."

Seeing that it was Ben, Tom and B'Elanna attempted to stand, only for him to wave them off. "At ease." he said as he held a box in his hand tightly. "I hope I'm not intruding?"

"No, please sit down." Seven told him. Looking around he saw that a seat was available next to B'Elanna. Taking it, his Chief Engineer got a little nervous and started to fidget.

"Maybe we should leave you two alone." B'Elanna said as she stood to her feet.

"Actually, I wanted you to stay." Ben told her as he looked over at Tom, who was standing to his feet too. "The both of you." with that said they both took their seats. "I wanted to formally apologize to you Miss Torres."

"Apologize?" B'Elanna asked in confusion. "Apologize for what?"

"For not promoting you to Lieutenant a long time ago." he answered as he opened the box and took out two pips. Leaning over he placed them on her collar. "I just needed you to understand that I couldn't promote anyone from the Maquis and give any of you full access to the ship yet until I was sure that you could be trusted and until after Seska was dealt with."

"I... I understand that... well I do now." B'Elanna replied with a wide smile.

"Good, you'll find in the morning that you'll have full access to Engineering." Ben said meeting her smile with one of his own. "You won't have to worry about having Ensigns or Mr. O'Brien standing over you anymore."

"Thank you, sir." the half Klingon woman said, pride filling in her heart. Now she really felt as if she were a part of the crew.

"Hey you wouldn't happen to have something for me in that box would you?" Tom joked, only for Ben to look at him seriously.

"As a matter of fact I do." Ben said as he took another pip and a medal out of the box and placed it on his collar. "From now on when you're on the Bridge you'll have a little more authority, Lieutenant. In addition to your promotion I also wanted to present the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor to you. It's for the bravery and leadership you showed when we were trapped on planet Asir. Hopefully you won't have to worry about the senior staff getting abducted again."

"I... wow..." was all Tom could say. He didn't know what he admired more, the medal or the new pip that was on his collar.

"Don't worry, Seven." Ben said as he gave his daughter a look. "You'll be promoted one day. I see you kept that dream catcher that Chakotay gave you."

As he said that Tom looked up as the two of them conversed and then looked up at the dream catcher, that was hanging above her alcove. He had thought that the dream catcher was some kind of Borg artifact and not something that Chakotay had given her. Not knowing what to think of that he just sat back and tuned back into what everyone was saying.

"I think I'll leave you kids to get back to whatever you were doing." Ben said as he stood to his feet. "I need to find Valerie so I can give her, her promotion and then I'm going to get some sleep."

"Wait... um before you go, have you and Chakotay figured out what you're going to do with Seska yet?" B'Elanna asked.

"No." Ben said with a sigh. "Not yet. Me and Chakotay have been discussing that all day and what we did decide to do was talk to all the senior staff about it tomorrow. I'll see you all later." he said as he walked out of the room.

The Brig

Seska sat behind the force field of her cell, thinking of the predicament that she had gotten herself into. She should have known better then to trust Chakotay and just had followed the standing orders by the Obsidian Order and got information about the Maquis and had gotten out she wouldn't be in this mess. No she had to fall in love with a man, a human man that would now never return her feelings.

Now that she thought about it, it was so funny that the day she had contacted Gul Evek, through a hidden subspace message, updating him on Maquis activity, he had immediately came and attacked the Val Jean. Maybe he had gotten orders from the Order himself or had thought it would look good on his part to try to destroy the Val Jean, she'd never know, but they probably would have never ended up in the Badlands and in the Delta Quadrant because of that attack.

'The hell with the Obsidian Order and Gul Evek.' Seska thought to herself. Hearing someone come into the room, she looked up and saw that it was Valerie. 'God what does she want?'

"You're relieved of duty, Ensign." Valerie told the man that was keeping watch over Seska.

"But... ma'am, Constable Odo told me to..."

"I am Corporal Valerie Archer of the MACO team!" Valerie snapped. "I've been sent here by Odo to relieve you of duty. Do you have a problem with that, Ensign?"

"No.. no ma'am." the young Ensign replied nervously as he quickly left the room. With him gone, Valerie turned a cynical eye to Seska, only for her features to soften a moment later.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" Valerie asked as she approached her cell.

"You... you mean they didn't tell you?" Seska asked in confusion.

"No they're keeping everything hush, hush right now." Valerie told her as she worked the controls and lowered the force field. "But it doesn't matter, I'm getting the hell out of here and I could use a little company."

"What... what are you playing at?" Seska asked, as she gave the other woman a look. She'd already been fooled once today and didn't want to go through that again.

"I'm not playing at anything." Valerie told her seriously as she handed her a small phaser. "I'm sick and tired of these people treating me like a second class citizen and demoting me whenever they feel like it. I doubt that we'll ever get home so I thought ahead and prepared a few things when I was still a lieutenant. Come on we have a shuttle to get to."

Giving her another look, Seska decided to take her chances and stepped out of the cell.

"What the hell is going on in here!?" Kira shouted as she walked into the room. Giving each other a look, Seska put her hands together into a fist and hit Kira in the stomach with all the strength she could muster. As Kira doubled up in pain and went to the floor, clutching her stomach, Seska snatched the phaser out of Valerie's hand and put it up to the Bajoran woman's head. "Sweet dreams."

"No!" Valerie shouted loudly. "We don't have time for this. Come on let's go."

With a sigh, Seska took off Kira's combadge and threw it the length of the room. With a final look to Kira, who was crying her eyes out and coughing up blood on the floor, Seska and Valerie ran out of the room.

"Computer activate program Archer Beta One!" Valerie shouted into the air as she held Seska's hand and they both beamed away.

The Bridge

Letting out a yawn, Chakotay stood from his command chair and looked over at Dax.

"I'm going to get some sleep." he told her with another yawn as he headed towards the turbolift. "You have the..."

"Sir there's an unauthorized shuttle launch taking place." Odo reported as his console started to beep.

"Do you know who it is?" Chakotay asked as he turned back around.

"No, I've tried hailing them but they aren't responding." Odo told him. "But I am picking up two biosigns. One of them is human and the other one is... Cardassian."

"Somebody is trying to escape with, Seska." Dax said more to herself than anybody else.

"Try locking a tractor beam on the shuttle and then beam those two aboard." Chakotay ordered as he sat back down in his command chair.

"I can't." Odo replied as he typed furiously into his console. "The tractor beam and the transporters are down."

"Can you at least disable their engines with a phaser blast?" Chakotay asked.

"No." Odo replied. "Doesn't anything on this damn ship work?"

"They've just hit warp and they've masked their ion trail." Dax reported as she looked down to Chakotay. "They're gone."

Ben's Quarters

At the Same time

With a song in his heart, Ben smiled as Seven handed him a brown teddy bear. Placing it delicately in the baby crib, the both of them stood back and fully took in the room. Now everything was finally complete and where it should be.

**'Captain you're needed to Sickbay, now!'** Erin yelled over the comline. Hearing how urgent the Doctor's voice was, Seven looked over at Ben and he in turn looked over at her. As one they ran out of the room and nearly bumped into Chakotay.

"Captain, Seska has escaped." Chakotay reported as Ben nearly stopped mid jog.

"What!" Ben shouted, making Chakotay wince at the sound of his voice. Knowing that he had to make it to Sickbay he and Seven kept jogging, forcing Chakotay to join them.

"There's more, sir." his First officer went on as they got on the turbolift and called on the deck they needed to go to. "She and someone else stole a shuttle pod and rigged the ship's phasers, transporters, and tractor beam to fail. Seska's gone, sir."

Sickbay

Ben and the others were greeted with the unpleasant sound of Kira crying as they quickly made it to Sickbay. Going further into the room, they saw Doctor Erin with a frustrated look on her face as she tried to make Kira calm down as she laid down on the bio-bed.

"Raka-ja ut shala morala... ema bo roo kana... uranak... ralanon Tabrin propeh va nara ehsuk shala-kan vunek..." Kira was saying over and over again in Bajoran.

"Doctor what's going on?" Ben asked, his deep voice almost not enough to be heard over Kira's screams_._

"I...I did all I could, Captain. I swear I did." Erin replied as she met Ben's gaze. If he didn't know better it seemed like the holographic woman was on the verge of crying herself. "But... but I couldn't save your baby."

"No." Ben choked out as he grabbed Kira's hands, closed his eyes, and put his forehead on hers. "No." he said again as Kira made him look at her. Not understanding much of what she was saying because of her sobbing, all that he could make out was that Seska was responsible.

The room suddenly seeming like it was spinning, Ben let go of Kira and stood as straight as he could. Looking back at Seven he saw tears in her eyes and walked over and gently caressed her face. Not being able to take the sadness of the situation any longer, he quickly walked out of the room.

"Father!" Seven cried out, as Chakotay held her arm.

"No, Seven let him go." Chakotay told her, his heart pounding and going out to the family and their loss. "I'm sorry." he choked out. "I'm so.. so sorry." he said as he pulled her close and into a hug. For the first time in a long time, Seven openly wept.

Tabrin's Room

Ben stood in front of Tabrin's crib, mulling a dark thought he'd had in his head throughout the day. Unknown to him but in the doorway behind him, Seven and Kira just stood there. Watching silently. Sisko stared at the crib for another moment and then, having come to a decision, stepped forward and began to take it apart.

Seven desperately wanted to walk in and comfort her father because of his loss, no...their loss, but Kira held her back. That was until Ben's entire body started to rack with tears. Wiggling out of Kira's grasp, Seven walked swiftly over and into the room to hug her father from behind, just as he fell to his knees as his emotions took over. Not knowing what to do she just held him as he sobbed deeply into her shoulder.

Looking back to Kira, for guidance on what to do, Seven saw that the older woman was crying too. Closing her eyes, Seven swallowed hard knowing that in the back of her mind two things had to happen. One after all of what her father had done for her she would be there for him in his time of need. Two, if she ever saw Seska again she would kill her for what she'd done to her family.

* * *

"I can't believe this." Seska complained as she helped Valerie pilot the shuttle. "You mean to tell me that you thought ahead to make this elaborate plot, but you didn't think to pack extra provisions? This thing doesn't even have a replicator on it."

"Hey, I didn't see you doing much of anything." Valerie countered. To her it didn't matter much anyway because she had wanted to find a nice M-Class planet to settle down on. "Why were you in the Brig anyway?"

Before Seska could answer, her console started to beep loudly.

"That's the proximity alert." Seska said as she started to type into her console.

"Did the Ares find us already?" Valerie asked nervously. If so all of her planning would have been for nothing.

"No it's... it's a Cardassian Galor-class warship." Seska said in confusion. Before Valerie could reply, both of them were swept up in a transporter beam. As they rematerialized, they saw that they were in a darkened room, with shapes moving around in the darkness.

"Well now isn't this interesting." a familiar voice said from the darkness of the room. "Seska is that you disguised as a lowly Bajoran woman?"

Trying to place who the voice belonged too and who would know her by name, it suddenly came to her in a flash. "Dukat?" Seska asked.

"Yes my dear." Dukat said with a warm smile as he stepped into the light of the Transporter room. "Long time no see. I believe we have a lot to talk about."

As Seska's eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Dukat, a few other Cardassian soldiers, and even some Kazon's in the room. Indeed they really did have a lot of things to talk about.

A/N Please review... What Kira was saying in her Bajoran prayer was "do not let her walk alone... guide her on her journey... protect... the one named Tabrin... take her into the gates of heaven.." Also to Rono everything about Seska plays into a much bigger plot a little later in the story, so I didn't want Sisko to get rid of her just yet. You'll see what I mean later in the story and trust me she's going to get whats coming to her. I also wanted to give people another reason to hate her after what she did to Kira. And if anybody was wondering about Valerie if anybody reading this watched DS9 she's kinda like Sisko's Micheal Eddington in this universe. Sisko trusted her completely, which is why she was wrote that way in the holodeck program and was going to reward her for her faithful service.


	32. Chapter 30 Trial by Assimilation

A/N This is the beginning of season two in the Delta Quadrant. Also thanks for all those great reviews.

Chapter 30

Trial by Assimilation

_First Officer's log, stardate 48693.2 : It's been a little more than a week since Seska and Valerie escaped and since Kira lost little baby Tabrin. The crew is... feeling a little more than somber to say the least. It almost feels like we've all lost something because of the baby's death. Myself and Dax are now running the ship since Ben and Kira have understandably confined themselves to quarters. Ben won't let anyone see him, except for Kira, Seven, and surprisingly Neelix. Hopefully things will change soon and they will come out of their rooms and take back over their duties. On a lighter note, I managed to end one of Doctor Erin's complaints about not having a nurse to help her in Sickbay. I asked around and thankfully Kes stepped up to fill that spot._

As Seven walked on the Bridge of the ship, all eyes instantly turned to her. Looking down to the ground to avoid their stares she quickly walked over to her station to begin her work and take her mind off of things. Hearing someone coming up behind her, she turned to see Chakotay and Dax leaning over her.

"How's Ben holding up?" Chakotay asked. "We haven't seen him in days."

"He is... dealing with this situation as best as he can." Seven told them, struggling not to tell them the truth.

And that truth was he was doing terribly. It had gotten to the point that she had to take his meals to him and make sure that he ate during the first few days. She was so happy that Kira was there to help and she wasn't ashamed to admit it. Just in a short amount of time her father had lost his wife, someone he had trusted to be a good officer had betrayed him, they were now over seventy years away from his son and he was in charge of trying to get his crew home. What was worse the one thing that had made her father happy while taking this journey was ripped away from him and brought nothing but sadness to him and the rest of the crew. All of these things had finally taken there toll on him. She knew now that her father was broken and she'd be there for him to help fix him.

"Don't worry." Dax said with a smile, as she broke Seven's thoughts. "I've known Ben for years and he'll pull through this. Just... just tell him we miss him."

"I will." Seven replied as she tiredly returned Dax's smile.

"You really look like you could use a break." Chakotay spoke up. "When's the last time you did something relaxing?"

"It's been... quite some time." Seven told him honestly. To tell the truth she couldn't remember the last time she just sat down and relaxed.

"Well, I'll need you to be efficient in Astrometrics so you're going to do something for yourself today." Chakotay told her. "And that's an order."

"You weren't going to get any complaints from me." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow. Sitting back in her chair, she thought about what she could do for herself today. "I did make plans with Tom and I also finished that program that I've been working on."

"Is it the one that B'Elanna has been bugging me about?" Chakotay asked with a chuckle. "That doesn't sound too recreational to me."

"Perhaps not." Seven said meeting his gaze. "But it's all I can think of at the moment."

"Wait, don't you have a shift in the Mess hall in the next couple of minutes?" Dax broke in.

"No. My father has relieved me of those duties." Seven informed her. "He has been teaching Mr. Neelix how to cook and has placed him back in the kitchen. The results are... promising." The Talaxian would bug her father everyday to see if he were all right, until finally he pulled Mr. Neelix into his room and strangely enough started to teach him how to cook. She assumed he did it only for Neelix to leave him alone as the Talaxian would now be in the kitchen.

"Neelix?" Dax mock whined as she touched her stomach. "My stomach is just now getting back to normal. You can't do this to me."

"My father wouldn't put him back in the kitchen if he didn't trust his cooking." Seven replied, a laugh threatening to escape her lips.

"You don't mind if I join you in that program do you?" Chakotay asked, with a chuckle of his own. "Honestly I need something to help me unwind myself."

"No I don't mind." Seven said as she gave him a look. "In fact I told B'Elanna when I got done with the program to invite more people to come with us."

"I'd love to go with you guys but somebody has to watch over the ship." Dax said as she playfully slapped Chakotay on the shoulder. "You two have fun."

* * *

As Seven walked down the corridors of the ship, heading towards her room, she heard a loud buzzing in her ear. Thinking that maybe some kind of fly or other insect had somehow snuck onboard, she instinctively tried to fan whatever it was away with her hand.

"You do know that there's nothing there don't you?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. "If I weren't dead, I could probably prescribe something for you."

"Doctor... doctor, Bashir?" Seven asked as she turned around and saw the man smiling at her.

"You were right." Bashir replied as he looked behind her. "She does still remember me."

As he said that, she turned and saw her parents standing behind her with wide smiles on their faces.

"From the look on her face, I'd say that she still remembers us too." Magnus replied as he started to walk towards her.

"We told you to run." her mother said, a grim look set on her face. "If you'd hid like I told you to, you'd never have been a Borg drone."

"No." Seven replied as she took a step back. "No, none of you are real."

"Seven, who are you talking to?" Neelix asked as he walked up to her.

"Mr... Mr. Neelix?" Seven asked, as she clutched her head in pain. Through glazed eyes she saw the Talaxian, watching her with concerned eyes.

"Yes, maybe I should take you to..." Before Neelix could complete his sentence, Seven's eyes rolled into the back of her head. Before he could catch her, she collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

Sickbay

Minutes Later

"Doctor, is she going to be okay?" Neelix asked nervously as Seven was laid on the bio-bed, while Erin scanned her with a medical tricorder.

"Her bio-readings are stable." Erin said loosely as she continued her scans. "But she's having a lot of abnormal brain activity that's left her in a coma. Kes, hand me that neural stabilizer."

As Kes picked up the device, she reached over Seven's prone body and her hand grazed over her abdomen. In the clutches of a quick vision, Kes cried out as she shared Seven's pain.

"My sweet, are you all right?" Neelix asked, as he and the doctor looked at her.

"Doctor I saw what was wrong with her." Kes replied, her breath coming out in ragged huffs. "She's being tortured."

As Kes told her that, Chakotay and Dax walked into the room.

"Doctor we just heard about Seven." Chakotay started as he walked fully into the room. "Is she going to be..."

"No she's not okay!" Kes cried out. "Commander there are so many people in her mind talking to and torturing her."

"What are you saying?" Chakotay asked in confusion.

"I can explain that." Erin replied with a sigh she didn't need to take. "You're not her family but seeing as though the Captain isn't in a good state of mind right now I am forced to and obligated to inform you instead. Shortly after we arrived here in the Delta Quadrant she was a part of an away mission to the Ocampan homeworld. A few days after that she came to me and told me that she was having hallucinations about people who she had personally helped to assimilate. After a bio-molecular scan I can only deduce that there was probably something in the air of Ocampa that had infected Miss Sisko with a neurological disease. I'm not one hundred percent sure but that's my theory, since her complaints started shortly thereafter."

"If that's true then why weren't we infected doctor?" Neelix asked. "I and some others were on the ship too."

"Yes, but none of you have Borg implants." Erin told him. "The ships biofilters did their job when all of you were beamed aboard and it might be because you're of a different species. But whatever it was managed to cling to some of Seven's Borg implants and has been infecting her brain. I've been treating her every day since Doctor Bashir was killed and I thought all of this was behind us and then this happened."

"Does, Ben know about this?" Chakotay asked.

"No, Sir." Erin replied. "Seven told me not to tell him. I'm bound by the hippocratic oath to respect her wishes but I refuse to let her go through this alone and without anyone knowing."

"But doctor you're a hologram." Dax spoke up. "You're supposed to do what you are programmed to do."

"Seven was responsible for creating me." Erin told her as she looked down at Seven lovingly. "If I have to break my oath to save her life then so be it."

As she said that Chakotay and Dax gave each other a look and had a similar thought, that maybe the good doctor was more human than they realized. Suddenly Chakotay had a thought. It was a crazy one but hopefully it would work.

"Dax go to Ben's quarters and let him know what's going on and bring him here. Tell him to bring three items that are personal to him and Seven." Chakotay ordered as she walked out of the room. "Mr. Neelix I need you to go to my quarters and look under my bed and get something wrapped in a brown cloth."

"Yes, sir." Neelix replied as he swiftly walked out of the room.

Giving Kes a look, Chakotay tapped at his combadge. "Mr. Tuvok, I need you to come to Sickbay immediately."

**'Aye, sir.'** they heard Tuvok's voice say over the comline.

"Commander what are you planning?" Erin asked.

"Hopefully something that will save Seven's life." Chakotay replied as he walked over and placed a hand on Seven's face. "Don't worry, we'll come for you soon."

* * *

As Dax ran down the corridor, away from Sickbay, she bumped into Tom as she rounded a corner. "I thought I left you in charge of the Bridge?" Dax asked.

"Commander, come on." Tom complained. "You can't expect me to just sit around while my girlfriend is hurt?"

"No, I expect you to follow orders." Dax told him with a sad look. "Tom look, I know how you feel but the best place where you can be helpful to Seven is on the Bridge."

"But..."

"Look, after I get Ben I'll personally relieve you of duty so you can go and visit Seven." she cut him off. "But the next time don't disobey my orders. You got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Tom replied with a reluctant sigh.

With her orders given, Tom and Dax walked their separate ways. Getting on the turbolift she called on the deck she needed to go to. After the brief ride, she sprinted down the hallway and as she came to Ben's quarters Kira walked out of his door.

"What's the rush?" Kira asked as she stared at Dax hard.

"I need to talk to, Ben." Dax replied. "It's about Seven."

Not saying another word Kira walked out into the hallway and allowed Dax to walk into Ben's quarters. Walking into the living room, she saw him sitting on the couch holding and looking at Tabrin's teddy bear. Doing a double take she saw that he had shaved his head bald and had grown a goatee. Normally she would have told him how handsome he looked but now was not the time.

"Ben..."

"I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed?" Ben asked, cutting her off.

"Well you're going to get disturbed." Dax told him forcibly as she got down on her knees and took his hand. "Ben you have to snap out of this. We need you. Seven needs you."

"She's a big girl." Ben replied sadly. "She can take care of herself."

"Ben, look at me." Dax told him softly. Seeing that he was still looking at the bear she said it again, but this time much louder. "I said look at me!" Taken by surprise at her outburst, he looked up at her and met her hard gaze. "If you don't get off this couch right now you're going to lose another one of your children."

Sobering up, Ben looked down at the teddy bear one final time, before placing it on the couch. Listening to Dax as she explained the newest situation, he stood to his feet. It was time to get back to his duty.

Sickbay

As Ben walked into Sickbay, he saw Dr. Erin, Chakotay, Kes, Neelix, Tuvok, and Tom all standing around Seven, who was laying on a biobed comatose.

"Dax told me what was going on." Ben said as he walked into the room and held Seven's hand. "But why did I have to bring some of Seven's things?"

"Because we have to try something dangerous and more than a little risky." Chakotay told him. "This is my first time doing this but I'm going to attempt to send you into Seven's subconscious and pull her out of her coma."

"Doctor...?" Ben asked as he looked at the hologram. What Chakotay was suggesting seemed absurd to say the least.

"I've run every scan and completed every test I can think of, Captain." Erin told him. "I'm afraid what Commander Chakotay is suggesting is all that we have left."

"What do we have to do?" Ben asked as he let out a frustrated sigh. There was no way he was going to lose another one of his girls.

"Kes has displayed vast mental abilities and since she doesn't know how to properly use them, Tuvok is here to be an anchor for her because of his superior mental focus." Chakotay started to explain. "I'll explain more in detail about what I want them to do but while they're doing that we're going to form a circle and I'm going to perform an ancient ritual my people used to try to send your spirit form into Seven's subconscious mind so you can drag her out and wake her up."

"Wha... what are the risks involved in this... ritual?" Neelix asked, nervously as everyone looked at him and then back to Chakotay.

"Honestly, Neelix I don't know about the rest of us." Chakotay replied honestly. "But for Ben... for Ben he might be trapped in Seven's mind forever."

"Then there's no way I'm letting my Kes do this." Neelix informed him.

"We promised that we'd help these people." Kes told her boyfriend as she grabbed his arm. "Neelix I don't know what's going on with me and I'll be honest that this scares me a little. But if my powers can be used for something good then that's what I'm going to do. I'll help in anyway that I can, Captain." she said as she turned around and looked to Sisko.

"Tuvok...?" Ben asked as he turned to the Vulcan.

"I am curious as to the nature of what Commander Chakotay has planned as well." Tuvok replied with a raised eyebrow. "However, if I can be of assistance, I will help my fellow shipmate."

Already knowing that Tom was going to help, Ben looked to Chakotay. "Let's get started."

"Not so fast." Erin said as she walked over to Ben. "If you're going to do this, then I want you to use a neural stabilization monitor. If I feel that you're about to collapse into a coma yourself, I want to be able to pull you out." Not waiting for Ben to reply, Erin stuck the small circular device on the side of his forehead. "And Mr. Neelix I need you to leave. I'll call you back to Sickbay when everything has returned to normal."

Giving each other a look as Neelix walked out of the room, Chakotay took the small bag that Ben was holding and placed it on the floor. Opening it, he saw that Ben had brought the spatula that Joseph had given Seven, a picture of her and the Sisko's on a nice beautiful day in the park and the dream catcher he had given her for her seventeenth birthday. It was funny for Chakotay to have seen that even after all these years that Seven had still kept his present. He was sure that she would have thrown it out after the way he left. But that was something he would talk to her about on another day.

"You two sit down on the floor." Chakotay instructed of Ben and Tom as he placed his medicine bundle at the foot of the biobed. Ben sat on the right side of the bed, while Tom sat on the left. "Kes, I want you to put your hand on Seven's forehead and concentrate on nothing but her. Tuvok, I want you to perform a mind meld on Kes and help her stay focused and open up her mind and her powers. When I perform this ritual, hopefully we can bridge your mental abilities and my spiritual one's so we can reach Seven." as he said that he waited until Kes touched Seven's forehead and for Tuvok to start his mind meld, before sitting on the floor and starting his ceremony. "Ben, Tom, close your eyes. A-koo-chee-moya..."

* * *

As the words from Chakotay's ritual died in his ears, Ben opened his eyes and saw that he was in an old 20th century styled court room with hundreds of people of different species in attendance. His eyes starting to focus more clearly, he looked up to the judge's stand and saw Dr. Julian Bashir in the seat, with his legs propped up on the podium and Seven in a cage beside him.

"Ah, I'll assume you're here to speak on her behalf?" Julian asked with a smile as he saw Ben walk into the court room.

"Father?" Seven asked, through tear stained eyes as she followed Julian's gaze.

"Seven, what the hell is going on here?" Ben asked, as Julian glared at him angrily.

"You don't have the right to address her!" Julian shouted angrily as he banged his gavel. "You speak to me."

Giving Seven another look, Ben then looked to Julian deciding to play ball.

"That's more like it." Bashir said as he started to calm down. "To answer your question of what's going on, Seven Sisko is on trial for murder and assimilation. I want you to take a good look around you Sisko. Look at all the faces in this room. Your... little girl is personally responsible for assimilating everyone in this room and for killing me."

Doing as he was instructed, Ben looked at the many different species and it took him awhile since he had to look all the way up to the rafters of the building. Glancing back to the front of the room and into the front row of seats he saw Seven's biological parents sitting there smiling.

"Before we get started with the rest of this hearing, I demand an answer to two questions." Julian spoke up as he looked at Ben. "Are you going to speak on behalf of Seven Sisko?"

"Yes, I am." Ben replied as he approached the bench.

"Good. Now is it or is it not true that Seven Sisko is responsible for killing your wife, Jennifer Sisko?" Julian asked with a smile, as the court erupted in a loud clatter causing him to bang his gavel. "Silence in the court. Please answer the question, Mr. Sisko."

"Fine." Ben grumbled as he looked to Seven and then back to Julian. "No, Seven isn't responsible for killing Jennifer. I am." as Ben said that the court erupted into madness once more, causing Julian to again bang his gavel.

"I said silence in the court!" Julian yelled as he turned his angry eyes to Ben. "Perhaps you didn't understand my question, Mr. Sisko?"

"I understood it perfectly, Doctor." Ben replied through narrowed eyes. "That day... that day at the battle of Wolf 359, I should have ordered all non-Starfleet personnel off of the ship, but I didn't. I didn't do it because of my arrogance. I was sure that we would beat the Borg. So sure that I didn't suggest to Captain Skon to evacuate the ship. Now listen to me... all of you." he said as he turned around to address the crowd. "Seven of Nine was a slave to the Borg and was forced to do the things that she had done."

"So what are you saying?" Julian asked. "You want us to just sweep what happened to us under the rug so the both of you can ride off into the proverbial sunset?"

"No, what I am saying is the real Julian Bashir would know that he died fulfilling his duties as a Starfleet officer. He wouldn't sit here and blame Seven like this. It's time for this charade to end." Ben replied as he turned to look at Seven. "You're still being a slave, Seven. A slave to a guilty conscience which is why your mind created all of this. There's no way you can give these people their lives back, but we have a mission to make sure that the universe and other innocent people aren't destroyed, remember?" he asked as he reached through her cage bars and placed both of his hands on either side of her face and made her look at him. "I told you a long time ago that I would be your guide in this world but... Seven I need you to help guide me too. I've... we've lost so much now and we have to keep each other together. I don't know if I can go on any longer if you're not in my life. Baby please wake up."

Before she could answer everyone in the room disappeared and the court house was cast into complete darkness. Hearing a noise and seeing a little flame of light, Ben and Seven looked ahead of themselves and saw that someone had struck a long match. As the person placed the flame on the wick of an old timey lantern it illuminated his face and they saw that is was Dr. Julian Bashir and Seven's biological parents standing behind him.

"You've managed to pass your soral's test." Julian said as he looked to Seven. "I'm actually impressed."

"What was the meaning of all of this?" Ben asked, believing for certain that his earlier speculation, that this was all in Seven's head, to be true.

"That is not for you to know, Emissary. You and the Scorpion had to be put back on your paths." Julian replied, not taking his eyes off of Seven as he read her mind. "And don't worry, Julian knows that his death wasn't your fault. Just remember that we're here." he said cryptically as he blew out the lanterns light.

Waking up with a start, Seven looked up off of the biobed to see Doctor Erin, Tuvok, and Kes standing over her. As she sat up, she saw her father, Tom, and Chakotay on the floor.

"Just try to relax." Erin said as she placed a delicate hand on Seven's shoulder as she lowered her back down on the bed. After running her medical tricorder over her, she smiled. "I'm only detecting a microscopic trace amount of the infection in your brain and it's dormant. Your... ritual seemed to have worked, Commander."

"Good." Chakotay said as he and the others stood to their feet. "How are you feeling, Seven?" he and Tom asked at the same time, making them look at each other.

"I am.. fine." she replied as she looked between them, before looking to her father. Seeing that they needed to talk, Tom and Chakotay stepped away from the bed.

"That was hectic wasn't it?" Ben asked as he smiled down at his daughter.

"Quite." Seven replied as she looked up at him with a slight smile. "Father, are we... okay?"

"Yes... both of us are okay now." Ben said with a smile of his own as Chakotay nervously walked back over to them.

"I just had a talk with the Doctor and she seems to believe that you could benefit from a few of my people's treatments administered by me." Chakotay told Seven. "After what we've experienced today the only thing I can think of is for me to send you on a vision quest. If you feel up to it, I'd like to start on it with you in a couple of days when I'm off duty."

"That is... reasonable." Seven replied.

"Good. I'll call you to my quarters in a couple of days when I've prepared everything." Chakotay said as he gave her a warm smile. "I'm glad that you're feeling better Seven and I promise to make sure you stay that way." Giving the Sisko's a nod, Chakotay walked out of the room, with Tom narrowing his eyes at him as he left. Calming himself, he walked over to his girl and smiled.

"So I guess the plans we made for today are off huh?" Tom asked.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Tom said as he took her hand. "I'm just glad that you're doing okay. I have to report back to the Bridge before Commander Dax has my head. We'll find something to do when the Doc releases you." with that said he gave her a quick peck on the lips before, turning and walking out of the room.

"So you're dating, Tom?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

"Only one." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow and a smile playing at her lips. "You look cute with a bald head. Better than I did."

"A bald... ahahahahahaha." Ben chuckled as Seven joined in on the laugh. It was good to hear her father laugh again.

"But there is something that I don't understand." Seven said as they stopped laughing. "Why did that entity say that I passed my soral's test?"

"What does that word mean anyway?" Ben asked.

"The word is Bajoran." Seven replied as she met his gaze. "And it means sister."

* * *

"That was... that was incredible." Kes said of the experience she just shared as she watched the family talking to Doctor Erin.

"Indeed." Tuvok replied as he took his hands off of Kes' forehead. "If you are afraid of your powers perhaps I can be of assistance in helping you explore them."

"I'd really like that." Kes told him with a smile as she looked to Ben and Seven. When they were done talking to the Doctor she had to tell them that the lifeform that had attached itself to Seven wasn't evil. It was quite the opposite and was a gift from a higher power. Seven had been touched by the Prophets of Bajor.

A/N Please review... I'm going to try to tackle the episode Deadlock next and later the Mirror universe.


	33. Chapter 31 Deadlock

A/N I don't want anyone getting confused about what's going on here but this is my own version of the episode deadlock. Instead of it being a small time difference there is going to be a nineteen year difference and it's going to be kind of a what if universe. Basically what if the crew and other people made different decisions in their universe then the one that I created. I've separated them as universe A which is what I've been writing this whole time and universe b of which you'll see in this chapter. You'll see what I mean when you read the chapter. Enjoy and also thanks for those great reviews.

Chapter 31

Deadlock

_Captain's Log Supplemental: We've spent nineteen years in the Delta Quadrant and finally our journey is almost over. We're on the edge of the Delta Quadrant and we're about to enter into the Beta Quadrant now but that's left me worried. All com-traffic we've managed to receive from the Federation because of the MIDAS array had died almost five years ago. The last report they sent to us was about a war starting with a race known as the Dominion and then nothing. What's so un-nerving to me is to be this close to home and not hear anything from our people. It's times like this I wish that Benjamin was still alive. He'd know what to do._

Universe B

The Ares

Bridge

"Captain, on the bridge." Nog announced from his position at Tactical as Dax walked off of the turbolift and onto the Bridge.

As Dax looked to the right of her and to Nog, she smiled. It was so odd that nineteen years ago, the once cowardly Ferengi had stowed away on the Ares before she was sent to the Delta Quadrant, to get away from his uncle and father. She remembered that over the years that he had turned from a scared little boy into a man. Ben and Odo had challenged him hard through the years but over time he was groomed to be a fine Starfleet officer, one that the late Captain would have been proud of.

With a nod, Dax instinctively ran her hand through her black and white streaked hair, before taking her seat at the command center.

"Do you have anything to report, Commander?" Dax asked as she looked over at her counterpart.

"Just one thing." Odo replied as he looked over at her. "We'll be coming out of this large plasma drift in another thirty minutes."

"Odo do you find it strange that we're on the edge of the Beta Quadrant and we still haven't picked up any com-traffic from Starfleet command?" Dax asked. "Hell I'd even settle for hearing the Klingon's curse us out."

"I've seen many strange things over the years." Odo told her nonchalantly. "I wouldn't worry."

"But still..."

"There is one other matter, Captain." Odo cut her off. "Miss Sisko is waiting for you in the Ready room."

"Which one got in trouble this time?" Dax asked with a sigh.

"Harumph, take a wild guess." Odo replied with a smile.

"What did Hazel get herself into?" Dax replied as she stood to her feet.

"Frankly, I'm too tired to deal with it." Odo said in a huff. "You'll find out what she wants soon enough."

With a roll of her eyes, Dax spun on her heel and walked towards her Ready room, only for Nog and surprisingly Odo to give each other a smile.

In a huff of her own Dax walked into her darkened Ready room to see her god-daughter sitting by herself at the head of the table. Till this day it still amazed her how much she looked like a perfect combination of Ben's sister and Kira, with the exception of her smooth mocha chocolate skin. "Tabrin Hazel Sisko what have you..."

"You raised me since I was a little girl, Aunt Jadzia." Tabrin said softly, as she looked up at Dax, her hazel brown eyes searching the Captain's face. "How long did you think you'd be able to keep this from me?"

"Tabbie...?" Dax started as she walked forward. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't you?" Tabrin asked, surprise evident in her voice as she stood to her feet. "I've had to bribe people, sit through hours of having to read data, separate fact from fiction, but finally I know the truth about you." as she said that she touched the replicator terminal, just as the lights in the room turned on.

"Surprise!" Chief O'Brien, Keiko, Molly, Seven, Neelix and Doctor Bashir yelled out as they got up from under the table.

"Happy birthday." Tabrin replied as she turned around with a red and blue cake that read Happy 50th birthday Dax on it. "I was going to put three hundred and fiftieth on it, but Seven talked me out of it."

"I'm glad she did." Dax said as her husband walked towards her. "Why do I think this was your idea?" she asked as she kissed Julian on the lips. The two had been married for almost fifteen years and he still seized to amaze her at times.

"Well this is a momentous occasion don't you think?" Julian asked as he led her over to the table, where everyone was putting their gifts. "We're finally almost at our journey's end and it's your birthday. Why not do it in style?"

"Speech." Tabrin said as she looked around at the others and then back to Dax. Joining her, the others started to chant the word, making Dax put a big grin on her face as she raised her hands to quiet them down.

"I can't say how happy I am to have reached fifty." Dax started.

"Three hundred and fifty." Tabrin whispered as Seven nudged her arm.

"But I don't want to talk about me." Dax went on. "I wanted to give thanks to all the people who sacrificed their lives to get us here, to this day. In just a few short hours we're going to be in the Beta Quadrant and in another six months we'll cross through and be in the Alpha Quadrant." as she said that Julian handed her a cup of punch. "A toast to the friends and family we lost on this journey and to new beginnings that their sacrifice has given us."

With her speech given, everyone raised their cup to the air and drank their punch.

"So what have you decided to do after we reached, Earth?" Lt. Commander Seven asked as she approached the Captain. Dax stared at her for a moment and smiled. Over the years she watched the former Borg drone turn from a teenaged girl to a mature older woman. Chief O'Brien was naturally supposed to have been Dax's Lt. Commander but he had told her that no matter what his place was in Engineering and not in command. That had left Seven as the next in line. If only Ben were watching, he would smile at how far Tabrin and Seven had come.

"After what I know are going to be long and boring meetings with Starfleet command, me and Julian are going to take a year long honeymoon." Dax replied as she closed her eyes and thought about honeymooning on Risa and then a few other places. As she let out a breath, the ship violently shook, almost taking everyone off of their feet.

**'Captain, you're needed to the Bridge.'** Odo's gruff voice said over the comline. Giving each other a look, they all let out a collective sigh and walked out of the room.

"Julian go back to Sickbay, I have a feeling we might need you soon." Dax ordered as Molly took her position at the Helm, Seven at OPS, Tabrin on the left side of Dax, O'Brien to Engineering, and Julian and Keiko back to Sickbay. "What happened?"

"We hit some kind of subspace turbulence as we were coming out of the plasma drift." Nog reported. "I can't tell if..." before he could complete his sentence the power all throughout the ship started to fluctuate.

"Cap, the warp engines just stalled." Molly said as she tried to type into her console.

"Go to impulse." Dax replied calmly, even though she felt that the reply she was going to get back wasn't going to be something she would like.

"Impulse engines aren't responding." Molly replied as she looked back at her. "Manoeuvring thrusters are out too."

"We're losing main power." Seven spoke up. "I'm switching to our solar backup power."

"Red alert." Dax said as the lights on the Bridge dimmed and the red alert klaxons sounded. "Bridge to Engineering... report."

**'Our antimatter supply is being drained, Captain. I don't know why.'** O'Brien reported out of breath over the com-channel. **'The containment fields seem to be in place. Give me a minute and I'll try to figure this out.'**

"Chief, try infusing the warp core with repeated proton bursts." Dax suggested. "Hopefully that'll be enough to keep it going."

**'I can generate enough protons in the sensor array for a burst every thirty seconds.'** O'Brien replied.

"Do it." Dax ordered. After a few seconds the ship was rocked harder then it was before.

"What happened?" Odo asked as the power on the Bridge started to slowly drain away, a light from console after console slowly dying out.

"There was an explosion in Engineering, structural integrity is down to sixty eight percent and the warp nacelles have fused." Seven reported as she looked to Dax, the power from her console fizzling out, casting her face in a dim glow. "We're at a dead stop."

Universe A

Chakotay's Quarters

"You're prompt." Chakotay said with a smile as he stepped to the side and let Seven enter his quarters.

"Yes... my father said that it's one of the habits that he admires most about me." Seven replied with a raised eyebrow as she looked around his room at the ancient Indian artifacts that decorated his wall. This was the first time she had ever been in his room but it looked exactly like how she had pictured it.

"It's one that I admire too." he replied as he picked up his medicine bundle. "Eventually you'll have to assemble your own medicine bundle, but this will allow me to assist you in your quest for a guide."

"Before we... engage in this ritual I wanted to ask some questions." Seven told him. "What form of creature will I see in this vision? Will it be some form of bird or..."

"The creature that guides us doesn't define who we are, Seven." Chakotay cut her off. "It merely chooses to be with us."

"What kind of animal visits you?" Seven then asked.

"I can't tell you that." Chakotay said, amusement evident in his voice. "It would offend my animal guide if I spoke its name."

"But this... creature, he guides you well?"

"Actually, it's a female." Chakotay replied on the verge of laughing. "But yes, she usually guides me very well."

"Is it possible for one to just choose their own animal guide?"

"It's not quite that simple." Chakotay replied as he went up the step to the informal area by his living room area window, put his bundle on the low table and sat on the floor. It took a moment for Seven to take the hint to sit down and join him. "A blackbird's wing. A stone from the river. An akoonah."

"Akoonah?" she questioned. In the back of her mind she was a bit relieved that she had to ask him questions about his people's customs. It only meant that the Borg had never assimilated any of Chakotay's ancestors.

"My ancestors used psychoactive herbs to assist their vision quests." Chakotay informed her. "Now they're no longer necessary. Our scientists have found more modern ways to facilitate the search for animal guides. Place your hand on it and concentrate on the stone." as he said that, he took her hand in his before placing it on the stone. Just that moment of brief contact and touching her warm hands made his cheeks turn a bright red. Clearing his throat and concentrating on the ritual, he began to say his people's ancient words. "A-koo-chee-moy-a. We are far from the sacred places of our grandfathers. We are far from the bones of our people. But perhaps there is one powerful being who will embrace this woman and give her the answers she seeks. Allow your eyes to close. Breathe to fuel the light in your belly, and let it expand until the light is everywhere. Prepare yourself to leave this room and this ship, and return to a place where you were the most content and peaceful you have ever been. You can see all around you and hear the sounds of this place."

As he began to speak, Seven's mind began to drift to a place it would take her years to get back to. Opening her eyes inside of her vision, she saw her grandfather's establishment back on Earth.

"This is my grandfather's restuarant." Seven said as she began to look around.

_You must not discuss with me what you see, or you will offend your animal guide._ Chakotay spoke to her, even though she couldn't see him. _As you continue to look around, you will become aware of other life that shares this place with you. It will be the first animal you see. That is the one you will speak to. Do you see an animal?_

As Seven looked around, she saw a little white male rabbit sitting on one of the restaurant's outside tables. "Yes." Seven replied.

_Speak to it._

"What do I say?" Seven asked, nervously.

_You know what you want to ask._ Chakotay responded._ And I'll leave you to speak to it._

With a raised eyebrow and a sigh, Seven slowly walked up to the tiny animal. "I am..."

"I know who you really are Annika." the little rabbit told her as he turned around to look at her. "I am Yosef and I know you have traveled far young one. Speak what is in your heart so that I may try to guide you."

"My father..."

"This time that we share is not about the Emissary." the rabbit told her sweetly. "He is protected by other beings. This time is about you. Speak."

Closing her eyes, Seven finally decided to drop her guard. Opening them, she looked to the rabbit and finally spoke what was in her heart. "I am lost. So many things have happened and so many voices speak to me."

"That is because in your life, you were used as an instrument of great evil." Yosef told her. "Your grandfather and the Emissary have put you on a path of redemption, but it is up to you to take it. The voices you hear are of the people you have harmed. I will quiet those voices for now so that you may bring focus to your life and concentrate."

With that said, Seven felt a great release flow through her body and the voices of the victims she had hurt vanished, until only her voice remained. "Better?" the rabbit asked.

"Yes..." Seven replied, feeling her connection with the rabbit slipping away.

"Come talk to me soon, young one." her animal guide told her. "I believe that we have much to discuss."

Before Seven could reply, she found herself back in Chakotay's quarters. "Well?" Chakotay asked as he walked back into the room and gave her a look.

"I can't tell you of my experience." Seven replied with a smile. "I do not wish to upset my animal guide."

"I should have known you'd say that." Chakotay said with a chuckle as he walked over to her. Extending a hand, he helped her stand to her feet. "But seriously, I hoped that this session helped."

"It did." Seven replied as she walked to the door and stood between it. "If... if you weren't busy, I'd like it if we could have another session soon."

"That wouldn't be a problem." Chakotay said as both of them just stared into each others eyes, not saying a word. His hand coming up, Chakotay's hand neared Seven's face.

"Hey!" Tom said loudly, as he walked by the room, snapping them both out of their daze. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Tom... I..." Before Seven could explain what was going on the entire deck shuddered and the ship veered to the left, nearly taking all three of them off of their feet.

"What the..."

**'All senior officers are needed to the Bridge immediately.'** they heard Ben's voice boom over the comline, as the ship straightened itself out.

Biting down on what he wanted to say, Tom spun on his heel and headed towards the turbolift. With a look of guilt written on their faces, Seven and Chakotay followed him.

The Bridge

As Tom, Seven, and Chakotay exited the Bridge, they saw Captain Sisko, Kira, and B'Elanna standing by the Engineering console looking flustered.

"Seven, come here." Ben requested as he moved back from the console. "The ship has gone into a dead stop and we've been getting some weird readings. Maybe you can make heads or tails of this."

As Seven moved forward and typed into the console herself, she frowned at the readings, understanding why the others looked confused. "This doesn't seem right." Seven said as she checked the readings again. "This says that there's another ship occupying the same space that we are."

"This all happened when we started to come out of that plasma drift." B'Elanna added. "For a few seconds our sensors detected a rift in space time and we passed through it."

"Ben this... this is impossible." Dax said as her console started to beep and she checked her readings. "I'm getting an open carrier frequency with a Starfleet encryption code."

"Is it from the ship we were looking for?" Sisko asked.

"No... Ben if these readings are right the frequency is coming from the Ares." Dax said as she looked up at him. "And these Starfleet encryption codes are mine."

"What...?" Sisko asked in disbelief as he walked over to stand behind her.

"There's a temporal phase variance of almost nineteen years, patched with these codes but I've deciphered them." Dax said as she furiously typed at her console. "Whoever sent them is telling us to lock onto a frequency of twelve gigahertz."

"Do it." Ben ordered. As she typed into her console the main viewer lit up with static.

"I'll try to clear it up." Dax said as she again typed at her console. As she looked up at the viewer, she did a double take as she saw an older version of herself in a command red uniform, sitting in the command chair of a duplicate Ares. And the older woman looked like she had gone through hell, with a cut on her cheek and a few bruises on her face.

As the older Dax took her eyes off of her younger self, she looked to a man she hadn't seen in over fifteen years. "Benjamin?" Captain Dax asked, in disbelief.

"Old man?" Ben asked back as a young Bajoran woman walked in front of Captain Dax with a tear forming in her eyes. If Ben didn't know any better he would have sworn that the woman was his sister, but she was too young and Bajoran.

"Daddy?" Tabrin asked as she saw her father on her ships damaged view screen. Looking next to him, her tear fell from her eye as she saw Kira. "Mom?"

A/N Here is Universe B's crew manifest and as always please review.

Captain Jadzia Dax  
Commander Odo  
Lt. Commander Seven Sisko OPS  
Ensign Molly O'Brien Helm  
Ensign Nog Tactical  
Miles O'Brien - Chief Engineer  
Lt. Tabrin Hazel Sisko - Counselor  
Julian Bashir - Doctor  
Keiko O'Brien - Nurse


	34. Chapter 32 Dying Light

A/N For the sake of everything Dax and the others in Universe B will be called Dax 2 or Seven 2, so it'll be a little less confusing. Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 32

Dying Light

Universe A

"Tabrin?" Kira asked, instinctively knowing that the girl she was looking at was somehow her daughter.

"Mom, I... I can't believe this." Tabrin replied.

"Old man, can you patch this signal into the Ready room's viewer?" Ben asked, as he gave Dax a sideways glance.

"Ye... yeah." Dax replied as she took her eyes off of her older self and typed into her console. "Everything is ready."

"Doctor Erin, Mr. O'Brien, meet me in my Ready room." Ben said as he slapped at his combadge.

**'I'll transfer my image there immediately, Captain.'** came Erin's reply over the open com-channel.

"Tom, you have the Bridge." Ben told the younger man as he headed towards the Ready room. Seeing Seven and Chakotay enter the room together, the pilot's heart twisted.

"Yes sir." Tom replied, reluctantly as he sat down in the command chair.

Seeing a switch in Tom's attitude, Ben looked back at the Ready room door and then back to his Helmsman. Deciding that there was a story there, he decided to talk to the young man later, but for now walked into the Ready room, to get the meeting started.

Seeing that everyone, with the exception of Miles, was already in the room Ben took his position at the head of the table. With a nod of his head, Seven tapped at the console that was close to her and then Captain Dax, as well as her entire Bridge crew of the alternate Ares appeared on screen in their Ready room.

"Ben you have no idea how good it is to see you again." Captain Dax said with a smile.

"I'm at a loss of words on what to call you." Ben replied as he gave her a look. "I guess, I'll have to call you older man." as he said that, as if Dax had read her counterparts thoughts, she not so gently slapped Ben on the back of the head. "Ow...!"

"It serves you right." Dax 2 said as unshed tears stung at her eyes.

"Until Mr. O'Brien gets here, I think we should swap stories." Ben replied as he rubbed at the back of his head and spotted Dr. Bashir sitting next to his Captain. "I'm sure that we have some very interesting stories to tell."

As Ben said that Captain Dax and her crew listened intently as Ben related his story of how the Ares was brought to the Delta Quadrant, about their Julian Bashir's death, about finding the Val Jean's crew, about Seska, Tabrin and any other little detail he could think of.

"A lot of what happened to you is similar to what happened to us." Dax 2 said as she looked around at her crew before looking back to Ben. "I'll just start from the beginning. The way you met your daughter Seven is the same and even when you met Chakotay and Tom, but that's when things start to differ. The EMH we have is in the form of it's creator. The day you went to try to recruit Tom, Chakotay beat you to the punch and recruited him into the Maquis first. The way we came into the Delta Quadrant is the same too, but Julian never died. I remember that day about that derelict satellite but we bypassed it all together. We never picked up a signal from another Starfleet ship either. As far as what happened to the Maquis... we didn't make it to planet Meat in time and the Vidiians had killed all of the crew of the Val Jean, except Tuvok and who we later found out to be a Cardassian spy by the name of Seska."

"What did Seska do in your universe?" Kira asked, hating to say that monster's name. "Did she..."

"She... she never killed me mom." Tabrin spoke up, happily. "When she punched you in the stomach, Uncle Julian took my embryo out and placed me in Seven. She carried me to term."

As Tabrin said that, Ben looked to his eldest daughter. Without words he seemed to silently ask her, if she'd ever do that for him. Seeing the sparkle in her eye, he got his answer. She'd do anything that he would ever ask of her.

"I...I should have thought of that." Erin replied as she looked to Ben and Kira. "I'm sorry... I..."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about doctor." Julian spoke up, trying to assure her. "It just so happened that me and Jadzia were walking that deck when we heard Kira's screams. It was a stroke of luck really that I was able to get her to Sickbay in time to stabilize her and transport Tabrin's embryo into Seven. I'm sure given the time you would have thought to do that."

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence." Erin replied, deflated.

"If there's one thing I can say about Seska, she had a wicked punch." Dax 2 said, thinking of a time long past. "While Julian was dealing with Kira, I subdued her. We were in a bit of a struggle and she landed a few lucky punches and kicks to my stomach..."

"Don't tell me..."

"Julian couldn't repair the damage and I was never able to bear any children." Dax 2 said, cutting off her counterpart.

"It looks like you managed anyway." Ben replied as he looked to Tabrin and Lt. Commander Seven. As he stared at Seven 2 a little longer, she ducked her face away from his gaze. Somewhere deep inside she was still that shy little girl. "So what did you end up doing to Seska and Valerie?"

"I don't know who Valerie is but as far as Seska... I didn't do anything." Dax 2 said as she began to shiver. "You did. After she managed to break out of her cell and hurt me and Kira, when you found out what happened you snapped. Before Odo and Tuvok could stop you, you blew her out of an airlock." she'd hated seeing that darkness in Ben that day. It had taken him weeks to calm down and even though she wasn't medically cleared, she had to run the ship until he got his head together.

'It couldn't have happened to a better person.' Kira thought darkly to herself. "Did you ever manage to find out who slipped me and Ben a mickey on planet Asir?"

"We've never been to a planet called Asir." Captain Dax said as she sat back in her chair. "Let me tell you about my Ben and Kira. Those two fell in love and after Tabrin was born they got married. It was a beautiful wedding and I was your best man of course." she told him with a smile. "And a few years after that you presided over me and Julian's wedding."

Giving them time to process at least that bit of good news, Chakotay had to ask a question about something that was bothering him. "You said that Tuvok had survived?" he asked of Dax 2. "He's a pretty good officer and I don't see him with you. I wanted to know what happened to him?"

"I'm sorry to tell you that Tuvok died of a neurological disease a few years ago." Julian spoke up for his wife."If he had of told me at an earlier time that something was wrong with him, perhaps we could have prevented his death. Ensign Nog took his place at Tactical."

"Ummm, hi sir." Nog replied nervously with a toothy grin.

"Seeing as though this is an alternate universe, I wanted to know..." Ben started as he looked from Nog to Dax 2. "...how did Kira and I die?"

"It was during our battle with Species 8472." Captain Dax said with a sigh. "Honestly Ben I don't want to think about that, but after you and Kira were gone, I had to put together a new chain of command. That's why Odo is my First Officer and Seven is my second in command."

"So you decided to leave security and try to help command a ship?" Odo asked of his counterpart.

"Harumph, do you really think that these solids could have made it this far without me in command?" Commander Odo asked.

"Harumph." Odo grumbled back as he nodded his agreement.

"I see everything hasn't changed." Dax 2 replied with a chuckle. "But Ben I do have wonderful news. During our journey we managed to re-establish communications with Starfleet command. I talked to Jake once a month and he's doing fine and is a writer. We still don't know what happened but up until five years ago we lost contact with Earth again. But that doesn't matter because it took us nineteen years to do it but we're finally on the edge of the Beta Quadrant. With the series of course changes Seven gave me, we'll be in the Alpha Quadrant in less than six months."

"That's incredible news." Ben replied as Sargeant O'Brien finally walked into the room.

"I'm sorry, I'm late sir." O'Brien said as he dusted off his uniform. "I was busy..."

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up?" O'Brien heard his own voice say. Looking up he saw an older version of himself onscreen and it took him a moment but he stared at a young asian woman that sat next to his older duplicate.

"What the... Molly?" Sgt. O'Brien asked as he did a double take.

"It's all right, Mr. O'Brien." Ben said softly. "I'll give you plenty of time to talk to your counterpart and your daughter after we've found out what's going on."

Taking her cue, Captain Dax nodded to her O'Brien.

"We analysed the sensor logs from our trip through a plasma cloud." O'Brien 2 started. "We couldn't find anything unusual until we ran a quantum level analysis. Remember that subspace turbulence we hit just before we left the cloud?"

"Yes." Dax 2 spoke up.

"Well, watch what happens." he replied as he put a diagram of the Ares up on the viewer so Ben's group could see. As they watched the display the Ares' outline started to blur for a few seconds.

"At first, we thought it was a sensor aberration, but they were in perfect calibration at the time." Lt. Commander Seven reported as her image came back onscreen.

"Did you run a multispectral analysis?" B'Elanna asked.

"That's the first thing we did, but we still don't know why this happened." O'Brien 2 told her.

"I have a theory." Sgt. O'Brien spoke up as he studied his ships sensor data. "According to this even though our ships were in two different points in space, we passed through a plasma drift at the same time. The only difference being on our end we passed through a rift in space time. It took our ship nineteen seconds to pass through it."

"I think I get what you're sayin'." O'Brien 2 said following what he double was saying. "For each second your ship passed through a year had passed."

"I still don't understand why we're seeing alternate universe versions of ourselves." B'Elanna spoke up.

"I don't either but I understand why our ships were put on a dead stop." O'Brien 2 said as he studied his sensor logs. "Whatever this phenomenon is combined our ships together, forcing both of us to have to draw on one power source."

"Which would explain why we can't move." Ben said as he looked to all three of the Engineers. "The question is, how do we free ourselves?"

"I already have the answer." Seven 2 spoke up, as all eyes turned to her. "One of our ships has to be destroyed."

"What...?" Tabrin asked her sister. "Seven are you crazy?"

"I agree with my counterpart's assertion." Seven spoke up. "It is the only way we can break this... deadlock."

"Unacceptable!" Ben shouted. "There has to be another way to..."

"Maybe we could bring your people over to our ship or our people to yours." Chakotay suggested. "It'll be a tight fit but I think either ship could manage."

"Other than the fact that there are no access ports to either of our ships, moving more than five or ten people would harmfully adjust the atomic balance of the two Ares, causing both of them to be destroyed anyway." Seven 2 informed them.

'There might be a way to send two or three people over.' O'Brien 2 thought to himself as he started to whisper to his captain.

"Ben maybe this can work out." Captain Dax told him. "Like I said we're on the edge of the Beta Quadrant. We can send out a general distress signal for assistance. When we get help we can put the ship on self destruct and you'll be free."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Kira asked.

"It doesn't really matter now does it?" Captain Dax asked with a smile. "We're almost home."

"If we're all in agreement then let's get started." Ben said as he stood to his feet, after he people started to walk out of the room. "Mr. O'Brien, Kira I'll give both of you time to talk to your families. I'll be on the Bridge."

"Ben don't you want to talk to..." Before Kira could finish her sentence, Sisko walked out of the room. Giving Tabrin and then Kira a look, his eldest daughter walked out onto the Bridge.

"Father why are you..."

"She isn't my daughter Seven." Ben cut his daughter off, not looking at her, as Tom got out of his command chair and went to take over the Helm. "She's that other Ben's child. Let's just leave it at that."

"No." Seven replied, as his eyes snapped up and he gave her a hard look.

"Seven, listen, I've already accepted Tabrin's dea..."

"No you will listen to me." Seven cut him off. "Do you remember when we crash landed on that moon?" she asked as he shook his head. "When... when I held you in my arms I kept thinking that you might die and how I and Jake would be devastated if you did. I was in my late teens at the time but can you imagine how my sister must have felt losing you and Kira at such a young age?"

"Seven... I..."

"It would have destroyed her." Seven finished. "I will not allow you to harm her any further because of simple... human feelings. This might be your only chance to see and get to know her and you will join Kira in being a parent to my sister and go into your Ready room." Seven snapped, as the crew on the Bridge turned to the pair. With one look from Sisko all of them went back to what they were doing.

'She really is a Sisko.' Ben thought to himself as he turned back to his daughter. "Is that an order?" as he asked that Seven merely placed her arms over her chest and gave him her best don't argue with me look.

With a smile and a sigh Ben stood to his feet and walked out of the room, mumbling about too many strong personalitied women being on his ship. Looking after him, with a smile, Seven turned to where Tom was sitting and saw that he was staring at her. Not saying anything, Tom turned back around and continued his duties. Deflated, Seven went to the ships OPS station and started her work of gathering data from the other ship.

* * *

As Ben walked back into his Ready room, he caught the tail end of Miles telling Molly how beautiful she was and how much she looked like her mother. Again that was something else Ben regretted about being taken away from the Alpha Quadrant. He didn't have time to pick up Keiko and Molly, so Miles could be with them. Now the other man would have to spend years away from them, just like it would take him years to get back to Jake.

Walking up behind Kira, who was talking to Tabrin and Seven 2 on a personal computer, Ben put his hands on the Bajoran woman's shoulders.

"So you're a Lt. Commander?" Ben said as he smiled down at his two daughters. "You look beautiful in command red. And Tabrin I see that you're a lieutenant. What position do you hold on the ship?"

"Well, Aunt Jadzia said that I was always a good listener so she gave me the position of ships Counselor." Tabrin told him with a smile. "Uncle Julian taught me all about psychology and Tuvok taught me some techniques to help me be patient. When I'm not listening to peoples problems, I work in the engineering department."

"It is good to see you again, father." Seven 2 said as she smiled at him.

Universe B

Ares Bridge

"Captain we're getting a response from our distress signal." Nog reported as he silenced the beeping at his console.

"Who is it, the Klingons or the Romulans?" Dax 2 asked with a sigh.

"Neither." Nog replied in confusion. "I'm not picking up any subspace beacons or com-traffic from either species. It's like none of them are there... wait the ship that responded to our hail is sending it's ship transponder information over. Captain..." was all Nog could say as his eyes almost popped out of his head in fear of what he was reading.

"What is it, Ensign?" Dax 2 asked as she and Odo turned to look at him.

"Captain... the.. the transponder codes they sent me says that they are the Dominion." Nog spluttered out. "And there's thirty nine, forty... no forty two ships heading in our direction at high warp. They'll be here in about twenty minutes."

As Nog made his report, Dax 2 sat in her chair deep in thought. Now everything made sense. When they had last talked to Starfleet they had entered into a war with a race of people from the Gamma Quadrant called the Dominion. When she had last spoken to Admiral Paris he had informed her that the war was going very badly for the Federation and for the different races of the Beta Quadrant.

'But how powerful would that race have to be to take out the Romulans and the Klingons?' Dax thought to herself. It really didn't matter now because she would see their power first hand since she had just rung the dinner bell when she had made that distress call. "Red alert." Dax 2 ordered as the Bridge was cast in red lights. "All hands, battle stations! Chief O'Brien I need you to finish on what we discussed and take it to Transporter room one."

**'Aye Captain.'** Chief O'Brien said over the comline.

"Julian I need you to go to Transporter room one and standby for my orders." Dax 2 then told her husband as she tapped at her combadge. "Nog, see if you can get Ben on the main viewer so I can talk to him."

"Yes ma'am." Nog said as he started to type at his console.

"Aunt Dax what's going on?" Tabrin asked as she, Molly, and Seven walked out of the Ready room, Seven taking her position at OPS and Molly at the Helm.

"Tabrin I need you and Julian to go over to the other Ares." Dax told her God-daughter as she gave her a sad look.

"But..."

"I said get over there damnit!" Dax snapped as the entire Bridge crew froze up at the sound of her voice. "You have to be there with your family." she said more softly. "This isn't a coincidence that you're here in this universe where you get to meet your parents. We're about to go to war and baby I don't think we're going to make it." she said sadly as she looked around at her crew. "I know that's what Ben would want, so I need you to go to Transporter room one and wait for Chief O'Brien and Julian."

Walking over to her aunt, Tabrin put her forehead on Dax's and both of them closed their eyes. Even without words, just that simple gesture told them everything they would ever need to say to one another. A hot tear falling down Tabrin's cheek, she opened her eyes and took off towards the turbolift. Passing OPS, she looked up to her big sister, who gave her a nod. Knowing that this would be her last time seeing her little sister, Seven kissed her on the forehead. Looking at the Bridge crew one final time, Tabrin walked on the turbolift as the doors closed behind her.

"Ma'am I got through to the other ship." Nog reported, his heart suddenly feeling heavy.

"Put it onscreen." Dax 2 ordered as Ben's face filled the screen.

"Old man what's going on?" Ben asked in concern, hearing the blare of red alert.

"We're about to be attacked by the Dominion that I was telling you about." Captain Dax told him. "The war must've gone bad for the Federation because it seems that these people have taken over the Beta Quadrant and possibly the Alpha Quadrant considering that our communication was cut off with them years ago. If they destroyed all of those races of people then we don't stand a chance, especially if we can't move."

"I wish that there was some way that I could help." Ben replied.

"There is." she told him. "I need you to take a few members of my crew onto your ship. My O'Brien believes he can break the barrier between our two universes enough to send people over using a multidimensional transporter."

"I'll prepare for their arrival." Ben replied as he looked at Dax 2 seriously. "Give them hell old man. Make sure they never forget the name Ares."

With that said, they cut communications, before Dax 2 cleared her throat. "Nog I want you to go to the Transporter room and beam over to the other ship with Tabrin."

"No." Nog replied, simply as Odo and Dax whipped their heads around at him. He had never disobeyed an order before.

"That was a direct order, Ensign." Odo barked gruffly.

"One that I won't follow." the Ferengi replied, meeting their gaze. "Before Captain Sisko died I gave him my word that I would defend this ship until my last breathe and I gave that promise to you too. I didn't abandon any of you back then and I'm begging you not to make me break that promise now."

"Mo... Molly...?" Dax 2 asked as she looked to her Helmsman.

"You heard the man, Cap." Molly replied as she turned back to her controls.

Her heart swelled up with pride, this was truly the best crew Dax had ever served with. "Where are you going?" Dax asked as Odo stood to his feet.

"We still have a few minutes before the Dominion get here." Odo started. "I'm going to make sure all non-essential personnel get to escape pods. At least then somebody might have a chance at surviving this." as he said that Dax 2 put her hand on his. With a nod of his head, Commander Odo walked off of the Bridge.

"Captain, seventeen ships have just dropped out of warp and more are arriving." Nog reported after a few minutes. "The lead ship is hailing us."

"Onscreen." Captain Dax ordered as Nog typed into his console. After a few seconds a man with purple eyes, black hair, elfish ears and white skin, wearing a contraption over his right eye appeared on the main viewer. On either side of him stood, what Dax assumed had to be a warrior race that would rival even the Klingons. Their skin was a bluish-white color and was scaly and reptilian in appearance.

"Hello, travelers." the man with the eye technology said in a friendly manner. "I am Weyoun, the voice of the Founders. May I ask why you are in Dominion space?"

"Dominion space?" Dax asked with a raised eyebrow. "I was under the impression that this space belonged to the Klingon's and the Romulan's."

"An honest mistake." Weyoun replied, never losing his smile. "Especially since we reduced both of their homeworlds to rubble because they refused to bow down to the Dominion. I'm sorry for being rude, but I never got your name."

"My name is Captain Jadzia Dax of the USS Ares." Dax replied with all of the bravery she could muster. At that same moment one of Weyoun's men whispered into his ear.

"Well now, Captain that's a pity." Weyoun replied with mock sympathy. "You and your crew will now have to join the rest of the Federation."

"You mean our people are still alive?" Nog asked, hope filling his heart.

"Oh of course not young man." Weyoun replied as he looked at him. "What I meant to say was you and your crew will join your people and the rest of the Federation in hell. It was a pity really, I was rather enjoying our conversation."

With that he curtly cut off communications, even as the rest of his ships dropped out of warp and surrounded the Ares on all sides.

Universe B

Transporter Room One

Tabrin lightly paced in the Transporter room and after a few minutes Doctor Bashir walked into the room carrying a padd, the Doctor's mobile emitter, and a piece of hardware she'd never seen before.

"I'm sorry, I'm late." Julian said as he gave her a quick hug, handed her the padd and slapped the mobile emitter on her arm. "I want you to promise me that you'll give the Jadzia in the other universe that padd. It's filled with tactical data, some of our experiences, information about diseases we encountered, and a letter from me to her."

"You mean you're not coming?" Tabrin asked with wide eyes. "But..."

"You'll be fine." Julian said as he kissed her on the forehead. "Your father and mother are there. That's where you belong, just like I belong here." As he said that, the ship rocked hard from phaser fire from the enemy. "Now get on the pad."

Doing as she was told, Tabrin smiled a sad smile as she saw the man that had helped to raise her for the last fifteen years disappear as she was swept away by the Transporter beam.

Universe B

The Bridge

As Julian finally made his way to the Bridge he saw that most of it was engulfed in flames. Looking to his right he saw Nog on the floor, hopefully unconscious, Odo replacing him at Tactical. Taking a glance towards OPS, he saw Molly giving him damage reports. Looking down to the command station he saw Seven sitting in the Captain's chair desperately hitting controls and yelling at Odo on what to do. Spotting his wife on the floor, he quickly ran over to her and held her hand.

"Julian...?" Dax asked weakly as she squeezed her husband's hand.

"Everything is going to be all right." Julian said as he started to do some scans on her, sighing in relief as he saw that she only had a concussion and a few superficial scrapes. "You'll be fine."

"I thought... I thought I told you to get out of here?" Dax questioned.

"This is where I belong and you know it." Julian replied with a smile. "I'll never leave your side."

Hearing a loud groaning sound, Julian looked up and he and the entire ship were engulfed in white light.

Universe A

Transporter room

As Ben and Kira anxiously waited to see Tabrin materialize on the ship's Transporter pad, they were disappointed as the pad hummed to life only to die out, with their daughter laying on the ground in the height of a violent seizure.

"Mr. O'Brien transport her to Sickbay." Ben ordered as he and Kira jumped on the pad and tried to rouse their daughter.

"Dr. Erin prepare for a patient to be transported directly to Sickbay." Kira said as she slapped at her combadge.

**'I'm ready.'** Erin replied as O'Brien initiated transport and beamed the family away.

As Tabrin materialized on a biobed, her parents were right by her side. As Ben tried to grab his youngest daughters hand, he saw that she was desperately clutching a padd. Managing to pry it out of her hand, he stood back as the doctor ran over and started to do some scans.

"Erin, what's wrong with her?" Kira asked as the holographic woman moved her out of the way.

"I believe this is a result of crossing the universal barrier." she replied as she looked over at Kes. "Kes, hand me that..." before Erin could complete her sentence, Tabrin stopped moving and Erin's medical tricorder flat lined. "Kes, hand me the cortical stimulator now!" Erin snapped. Doing as she was told, Erin took the device and placed it on Tabrin's forehead. Initiating it's activation sequence, she zapped Tabrin over and over again to no avail. "Captain, I'm..."

"What has happened?" Seven asked, as she walked into the room. Seeing Kira and Ben holding one another and her sister on the biobed, with the doctor standing over her, she was able to answer her own question. "No..." Seven cried out as she ran over to her sisters side. As she placed a hand on her sister's forehead, Seven's eyes suddenly glazed over. Unseen to the others, she opened her mouth and a white light came out of it and disappeared into Tabrin's body.

"Whoever is standing over me, breath really sucks." Tabrin said as she took in a deep intake of air.

"Tabrin?" Kira asked, as she sat up on the biobed, her hand going up to her forehead.

"What happened?" Tabrin asked as she groggily looked from Seven, to her mother, and then to her father.

"I... I don't understand." Erin said as she kept scanning Tabrin. "You should be..." before she could complete her sentence, Ben looked over at her, immediately making her be quiet.

Walking over to her daughter, Kira started to hug her as Ben did the same. Looking over at Seven, Ben beckoned her with his eyes to join them. Quickly catching his meaning, she walked over and held them. Finally their family was almost complete. As they broke their embrace, Tabrin stared at them a moment longer. She wanted to tell them so much about what happened as she was being transported over to their dimension but everything seemed like nothing but a bad dream. Promising that she would write everything down before that memory of the mirror universe she had ended up going to, before coming to their dimension faded, she looked over at Erin.

"Doc, I think this belongs to you." Tabrin said as she took the mobile emitter off of her arm and handed it to the hologram.

"What is it?" Erin asked as she studied the device.

"It's called a mobile emitter." Tabrin told her. "When you put it on, you can leave the ship if you wanted."

"Doctor, is she free to go?" Ben asked, snapping Erin out of her inner musings.

"Ye... yes." Erin replied as she took her eyes off of her new emitter. "I'm not detecting anything wrong with her. She's free to go if she wishes, but I did have one concern. During my scans I detected dormant nanoprobes in your bloodstream."

"I'll explain that later." Tabrin said as she looked at her family again and smiled. "I'm home."

A/N For the people who watched DS9 the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant stayed open in Universe B, while the one in A closed when Ben was thrown into the Delta Quadrant. Also I'll explain about the nanoprobes being in Tabrin's bloodstream in the next chapter. Also the light that passed from Seven to Tabrin was the gift that Seven earned from the Prophets in the chapter Trial by Assimilation. Don't worry about Dax 2 and the others, they aren't dead. As far as the Ares 2 having to cross the Beta Quadrant I actually looked at a map that had all four quadrants on it. It all depends on where they exit the delta quadrant, because they wouldn't have to traverse the entire Beta quadrant just to get back to the Alpha quadrant. I hope you guys liked this chapter and as always please review.


	35. Chapter 33 Sadly Its Too Late For Sorry

Chapter 33

Sadly It's Too Late For Sorry

_Captain's Log Supplemental: It's been a couple of days since the hands of fate decided to return my youngest daughter to me. No one on this ship knows how happy I am and a new breath of hope seems to have blown through the ship. It's that same sense of hope that I see dying in Tom Paris' eyes. Even though my daughter is a Counselor,I've personally taken Tom under my wing and I'd prefer to talk to him myself since I believe I understand the nature of his problem. We've also studied the information in the padd that Tabrin brought to us and over the course of this year we will start to add those upgrades to our ship. On a lighter note we've made the minor repairs that the ship needed and we've resumed course towards home._

Captain's Personal Dining Room

"Whew, I haven't eaten that well since... well I don't know when." Tabrin exclaimed as she sat back in her chair and rubbed at her stomach.

"I'm glad you liked it." Ben replied with a smile.

"It would have been better if mom was here." Tabrin told him. "Where is she anyway?"

"She's getting... something ready for you." Ben said as he gave Seven a look. "There are some things that I wanted to discuss with you, while she's getting things ready."

"It's about the nanoprobes isn't it?" Tabrin asked as she took a sip of water.

"Well that was one of my questions." her father replied. "If you don't want to talk about..."

"When Uncle Julian transferred me over to Seven's body, her Borg nanoprobes tried to assimilate me after a few weeks in her stomach." Tabrin started to explain. "After several treatments of medication he came up with, it managed to stop the assimilation process but it left dormant nanoprobes in my bloodstream. Uncle Julian never officially found out why the nanoprobes laid dormant but he thought that they were somehow involved with me having a very high immune system, since he never had to treat me for any kind of illness or disease, so he decided to leave them in me. "

"I...I see." Ben replied in relief as he picked up a padd. "I was also updating the crews manifest to include you in it and I saw that your middle name is Hazel. Is that a nickname or..."

"Aunt Dax gave me that name." Tabrin replied happily as she thought about the older woman. "When I was born she said that I had the most piercing hazel eyes she'd ever seen and she begged you... well mom to give me the middle name Hazel. She used to call me that all the time."

"That sounds like something Dax would do." Ben replied with a smile as Seven stood to her feet.

"I must report to Astrometrics." Seven started. "Thank you for lunch father. Hazel I will talk to you later." she said as she walked out of the door, passing Kira as she did.

"Hey, I have something for you too see." Kira said with a smile as she walked into the room and looked at her daughter.

* * *

As Ben took his morning stroll down the corridors of his ship, he saw Tom walking ahead of him. Deciding to have some fun, he snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Turning, Tom didn't see anyone standing behind him and as if by magic Ben was standing beside him, making the pilot jump.

"Easy Captain you almost gave me a heart attack." Tom joked as he and Ben shared a laugh. "What's up?"

"I should be asking you that." Ben replied as they stopped walking. "Lately you've been quiet and to yourself. That's not like you and I wondered if there is something I can help you with?"

"It's... it's nothing." Tom said as he plastered on a fake smile. One that Ben saw right through.

"Ahhh, then it has to be women trouble." Ben concluded as Tom stared at him with wide eyes. "Tom please... the gift of getting older is the ability to see when someone is bullshitting you. Now tell me what has Seven done? Maybe I can help you."

"It's not Seven that's the problem." Tom replied as he looked around to see if anyone was walking down the corridor or might be listening. "It's Chakotay."

"I see." Ben said as he thought about the situation for a moment. "Chakotay and Seven have a bond and they've had one since we crashed on that Borg moon, but that doesn't necessarily mean they want to be with each other. Listen this is what you should do. Cook a gourmet meal for Seven and invite her to your quarters so you two can talk and by the Prophets of Bajor it better just be talking." Ben joked, even though Tom knew that he was dead serious. "It's best not to jump to any conclusions until you have a nice long chat with her to see where her heart belongs."

"That's a nice thought, Captain." Tom said as he looked up at him. "But I can't cook all that well. The last time I tried I think I burnt water."

"Believe me Tom." Ben said with a smile as he looped an arm around his pilot's shoulder. "If I can teach Neelix how to cook, then you should be child's play."

Tabrin's Quarters

"This room looks just like my old one." Tabrin commented as she looked around her newly acquired room. For the past two days she stayed in her mother's quarters so that they could catch up and get to know one another better. Seeing a brown teddy bear laying on her bed, she picked it up and smiled. "I had one of these in my universe too. I called it Mr. Buttons."

"Ben replicated that before... before..."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about that." Tabrin suggested as she cut Kira off, certain that she would start talking about something dark and depressing. They would have plenty of time to talk about that later after she'd readjusted to the crew. It was already hard enough for her to adjust to having her parents again. "I'm here now. That's all that matters."

"Yeah... yeah I guess you're right." Kira commented trying to bury her feelings and concentrate and the here and the now.

"Mom I did want to ask you something though. It's been bugging me ever since I got here."

"You know you can ask me anything." Kira replied as she grabbed her daughter's arm and smiled.

"Are you and dad in love?" she asked her seriously. "I was young when I lost you both but I remembered both of you being so much in love. I made aunt Dax tell me about you two all the time."

"You're really close to Dax aren't you?" Kira asked as she sat down on Tabrin's bed.

"Mom, stop avoiding the question." Tabrin whined as she sat on the bed with her. "I mean in my universe you two were married and happy."

"Well this isn't your universe." Kira replied as a little smile played at her lips.

"I knew it!" Tabrin shouted in excitement. "You love dad. Does he know? Are you two going to..."

"Tabrin, wait..." Kira begged her to calm down. "I'm not sure what my feelings are for Ben but I don't know if it's love. I'm not even sure how he feels."

"Then you should ask him." Tabrin said as she grabbed Kira's hand and looked down at it. Seeing that their hands looked so much alike, she smiled before looking up at her mother's face. "It's going to be a long journey back home. It's a journey that's not meant to be taken alone."

"How did you get so wise?" Kira asked.

"I come from a long line of wise people." Hazel replied with a smile as her door chime sounded. "Come in."

"Oh... I thought you'd be alone." Dax said as she walked into the room and saw Kira. "Maybe I should..."

"No come in." Tabrin cut her off as she stood up and walked up to the taller woman. "Aunt Jadzia have you been crying?" she asked, going into full counselor mode. "What's going on?"

"It's this letter that you brought me from Julian." Dax replied as she held up a padd.

Taking it, Kira read the first line from the letter and smiled. "The first time I saw your beautiful face I knew you'd be my wife."

"That's just like Uncle Julian to write something like that." Tabrin said as she thought back to some very fond memories of him. Sensing why her aunt was in pain, because in this universe Julian couldn't be there with her, Tabrin rushed to make her feel comfortable. "Uncle Julian loved you and wouldn't leave your side."

Astrometrics

"You're going to prepare a meal for me?" Seven asked with wide eyes as she stared at her boyfriend.

"Well don't look so surprised." Tom replied, trying to forget seeing her and Chakotay trying to embrace each other a couple of days ago, out of his head. "Look we haven't spent that much time together in the last couple of weeks and I thought we could have a nice candle lit dinner and just talk. I've missed you."

"But my work..."

"Can wait until after we've had dinner." Tom cut her off. "You gotta eat anyway. You might as well do it and talk to me... maybe around nineteen hundred hours?"

"I'll meet you in your quarters in two hours."

"Good then it's a date. I'll leave the door unlocked for you." Tom replied as he held her hand and kissed her deeply on the lips. As he broke their embrace he noticed that it lacked the warmth that it once held. Not commenting on it he walked out of the room to get everything prepared.

Turning back to her work, Seven started to type at her console and noticed that the doors to the room opened again. "You couldn't wait to see me again?" Seven asked with a smile as she turned around to see Chakotay staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I couldn't but why do I get the impression that I'm not the person you were expecting?" Chakotay asked.

"I... I thought that you were Tom." Seven replied as her cheeks turned a bright pink, in embarrassment. "Was there something that you needed, Commander?"

"At ease." he replied as he leaned against her console. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to go on another vision quest today? I was thinking that I could even help you start your own medicine bundle."

"I... I've already made plans."

"I see." Chakotay said as he turned to leave. She didn't need to say who she was spending time with for him to get the point. "I'll umm... leave you to your plans then."

"Wait." Seven called out, stopping him in his tracks. "Perhaps, I can finish my work later and accompany you now. Just as long as it doesn't take..."

"It'll only take about thirty minutes." Chakotay assured her. "Come on, let's go to my quarters and get started."

Tom's Quarters

1935 hours

Tom watched as one of the candles he had lit over an hour ago started to dwindle and die out. As long as he had ever known Seven she was always punctual and he'd never heard of her being late. But here she was over thirty five minutes late for a date she knew was important to him. A part of him was telling him to wait and be patient, but the other part just had to know.

"Computer, locate Seven Sisko." Tom said as he looked up to the ceiling.

"Seven Sisko is located on E deck section SCO." the Computer reported.

'That's where the senior officers' quarters are located.' Tom thought to himself as he started to get a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Whose quarters is she in?"

"Seven Sisko's location is in Commander Chakotay's quarters." the Computer clarified.

For a fraction of a second Tom felt a great anger in his heart that quickly dissipated only to be replaced with sorrow. A sorrow that would last him for the rest of this journey. Blowing out the flame of the candle that was quickly flickering out anyway, he sat in his chair in silence, only for a few minutes later for the object of his affection to walk through his doors.

"I apologize for being late." Seven started as she walked towards the table. "After my vision quest with Chakotay we..."

"Seven I...I wanted to let you off the hook." Tom told his beautiful blond companion, effectively cutting her off.

"What do you mean?" Seven asked as she met his gaze

"What I mean is, I see the way you look at Chakotay." Tom replied sadly. "As long as we've known each other you've never looked at me like that."

"I don't understand." Seven started, as her chest started to get tight. "What are you saying to me?"

"What I'm saying is the way I feel about you it's... it's like fighting against a current. You keep pushing me back but I keep fighting as hard as I can to keep up with you." Tom told her. "I've given you time to decide who you wanted. You made it clear today that it's Chakotay."

"But Tom... you... you're the one I chose to be with." Seven told him. This moment almost felt as bad as when Chakotay walked out of her life all those years ago.

"If that's true then I want you to look me in the eyes right now and tell me you love me." he said back to her. "Because you know what, for the first time in my life I can look at someone and tell them that. You're the one that I opened up my heart to and you helped me to see that there's something more to life then just abuse and sex. I love you Seven Sisko... just... just please say that back to me."

"I..." not being able to tell him what he wanted to hear, she looked down to the floor, ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry."

"You... you don't have to be." Tom told her softly, trying to rein in his emotions and not breakdown in front of her. "I guess we're not meant to be a couple but after what you and your dad have done for me, I'll always be your friend." he said with a chuckle despite the situation. "At least we'll always have Paris."

Sharing his sad smile, Seven excused herself and walked out of Tom's room. Walking blindly down the corridor because of the tears that started to form in her eyes, she bumped into someone.

"Hey!" Tabrin shouted playfully as she gave Seven a nudge. "Just because you're my big sister, doesn't mean you get to walk all over me. Hey what's wrong?" she asked as she saw Seven's tears and the distant look that was in her sister's eyes. "I know that look anywhere and you'll be my second patient today. Come on let's go to my room and talk about this."

The Mess Hall

Later That Night

"Nee... Neelix... bring me another glass of brandy." Tom managed to slur out to the resident Talaxian, as he put down his empty glass.

"By my count that's your fourth glass." Neelix said in concern as he walked over to the pilot. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Why does there have to be a problem?" Tom asked back. "Can't a man just sit alone in a Mess hall and drink himself to sleep?"

"Ahh, this is a matter concerning love." Neelix replied with a wide smile.

Tom gave the other man a hard stare, wanting desperately to deny it but he knew in his heart that it was true. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Oh you're easier to read then Odo." the spotted alien replied with a laugh.

"Odo...?" Tom questioned, as he seemed to sober up a bit. "You do realize that Odo doesn't care for you that much right?"

"Nonsense." Neelix replied back. "That man loves me. Now stay right there and I'm going to fix you an old Talaxian remedy that's going to help with that hangover that I'm sure you're going to have later on. I'll be right back and we'll talk about your problems."

With that said, Neelix rushed into the kitchen to prepare another one of his concoctions. Lost in thought, Tom looked up and saw Ro and B'Elanna enter into the empty Mess Hall. Spotting him sitting alone, they walked over to his table.

"Mind if we join you flyboy?" Ro asked as she smiled down at him.

"Hey the more the merrier." Tom replied as they both sat down on either side of him.

"Hmm, somebody is doing more then a little drinking." B'Elanna commented as she saw all the empty glasses on the table. "What's the occasion or is there something wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong." Tom said seriously as the two women looked at each other and smiled.

"It's about a woman." Ro and B'Elanna said at the same time.

"How does everybody keep doing that?" Tom asked in confusion.

"Call it a gift." Ro told him as she sat up in her chair.

"Yeah, now spill." B'Elanna said wanting to hear as much gossip as possible. "What's going on?"

"Me and Seven broke up." Tom told them as he blew out a breath and told them what happened.

"Well, Chakotay is a good guy." B'Elanna commented as she sat back in her chair. "And he's handsome... not as handsome as I think you are. What?" she asked as she looked up to see Ro and Tom looking at her.

'So somebody has a little crush on Tom.' Ro thought to herself as she looked from B'Elanna to the pilot. 'He is handsome though.'

From the kitchen, Neelix smiled as the women Tom was now talking too were making the pilot feel better. At least now that he'd broken up with Seven maybe now he didn't have to worry about Tom trying to make any moves on Kes, since he now had two attractive women after him. Fixing the group a round of drinks, Tom getting his remedy, he happily walked over to them.

Observation Lounge

Ben stood at one of the view ports in the lounge alone and gazed out at the stars that passed. As a smiled played at his lips, he thought about what the future would hold.

"I see different creatures can have similar habits." a familiar voice said behind him. "I often stare out at the stars myself when I get lost in thought."

"Dukat?" Ben asked in shock as he turned around to see the Cardassian Gul standing behind him. "How did you..."

"How did I get here?" Dukat asked with a wide smile. "Do you mean how did I get here in the Delta quadrant or on your ship? Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, Captain, I wouldn't do that if I were you." he softly chastised as he pulled a Cardassian hand phaser out and aimed it at Ben, who was reaching to tap his combadge. "I came here as a friend and the least you can do is show a little hospitality. Have a seat, believe me we have a lot of things to talk about, Benjamin."


	36. Chapter 34 The Cardassian Kazon-Empire

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. I hope you like this chapter. If you do just let me know how you feel about it by dropping a review.

Chapter 34

The Cardassian Kazon-Empire

Tabrin's Quarters

"So tell me how long have you and Tom been dating?" Tabrin asked as Seven sat on her bed. If she was going to be a Counselor on this ship, she'd have to ask her father for a more appropriate room to meet people in.

"For approximately three months." Seven replied as she thought back on their time together.

"And do you know if Tom really likes you?" Tabrin further questioned.

"He told me he loved me." Seven told her sadly, still a little ashamed of herself that she couldn't tell him the same thing.

"Wow he must be head over heels for you to tell you that so soon." Tabrin replied with wide eyes. "What did you tell him back when he told you that?"

"Nothing." she replied as she looked away from her sisters gaze.

"Hey there's no shame in that." Tabrin replied with a warm smile as she took a slender finger, placed it under Seven's chin and made her look up. "You just weren't ready to tell him yet and I think I know why. You never gave yourself time to heal."

"Heal...?" Seven asked in confusion. "Heal from what?"

"From Chakotay." Tabrin replied as she gave her a few seconds to start to gather what she was saying. "From what you told me, Chakotay was your first crush and your first kiss. He owns a part of your heart because of that and he crushed that sense of wonder for you because he left the way he did. Things like that mean everything to a girl. What was it like... six months before you and dad got trapped in that anomoly before you came to the Delta Quadrant? You couldn't interact with anything in that anomoly, other then for a few minutes, and as much as you try to hide behind your Borg past, you can't suppress your feelings about Chakotay and six months might have not been enough time to get over him. And to top it off you didn't have anybody like Aunt Dax or any other woman to talk to about how you felt. Then you jumped into a relationship with Tom and you still had another man on your mind and in your heart. What I'm saying is because you didn't fully let go of Chakotay and give yourself time to heal you can't properly move on with Tom or anybody else. And as much as it pains me to say this but you're doing the same thing Chakotay did to you, to Tom. He poured out his heart to you and you hurt him."

"I... I did not think about it like that." Seven said as she thought about what her sister had just told her. "And I did not mean to hurt Tom. I..."

"Seven this session isn't about me blaming you." Tabrin cut her off. "I just wanted you to see that your actions can affect others. Look, I'm not telling you to date Tom or Chakotay. All I'm saying is give yourself some time to heal and then make your choice on who you want to be with." As she said that she thought back to her time on the other Ares and how lonely her older sister had been. She never dated and only consumed herself with work and trying to get them home. Now was a chance to get her heart in the right place so she could be with somebody.

"But... but who should I choose?" Seven asked as her heart began to twist.

"I can't answer that for you." Tabrin said as she put her hand on hers. "Only your heart can decide that. All I can do is put this on your mind. From what you told me, Chakotay is most like you. He's handsome, wise, patient, he has eyes that you could lose yourself in, a calm voice that just makes you feel safe and that tattoo just screams bad boy." she replied with a chuckle. "And Tom is... Tom is an unorthodox thinker, he's brave, thoughtful, funny, and he seems like he's the type that'll make sure you have a nice time no matter what you're doing."

"But Tom told me, he just wants to be my friend." Seven told her as Tabrin waved her off.

"Honey if there's one thing I know about men is that they don't know what they want any more then women do." she said with a smile. "Do you really think he can watch you walk around all day and not feel anything?"

"I... I guess your assertion is correct." Seven replied, thinking things through as she stood to her feet. "Thank you for your guidance."

"Wait, Seven before you go I wanted to ask you something?" Tabrin said as she stopped her sister from leaving.

"Yes." Seven replied.

"If you don't choose Tom can I have him?"

"Tabrin...?" Seven asked with wide eyes as she picked up a pillow from her sisters bed and threw it at her head. Dodging it expertly, through years of getting into catfights with her older sibling, Tabrin just sat back in her chair and started to laugh.

"Hey you can't blame a girl for asking."

Observation Lounge

Ben stared hard as Dukat sat down and put a black spiraled bottle and two glasses on the table. Keeping one hand on his phaser, Dukat poured some Kanar into a glass and slid it across the table to Ben, before pouring one for himself.

"Drink up Captain." Dukat said with another smile. "This Kanar is a good vintage and I promised to only drink it on a special occasion." With a scoff Ben looked down at his drink before looking back up at the man. "Benjamin... Benjamin you don't think that I'd try to poison you do you?"

"Frankly Dukat I could care less about your damn beverage choice." Ben snapped. "Now why the hell are you here?"

"And here I thought you'd be a rational man." Dukat replied, never taking his eyes or phaser off of Ben as he downed his glass of Kanar in one gulp. "Fine, I was sent here the same way you were."

"By the Caretaker's array." Ben replied. "I figured as much."

"On stardate 48315.6 my orders were to investigate the disappearance of the Maquis raider the Val Jean and Gul Evek's ship in the Badlands. Imagine my surprise when the infamous lost ship of Benjamin Sisko appeared on my ships sensors." Dukat told him as he poured another glass of Kanar for himself. "I was just about to come out of the Badlands plasma storms to... see if I could offer assistance and then my ship was engulfed in a bright light and I was transported to the Caretaker's Array." he explained as he took another sip of his drink. "My vessel was badly damaged and couldn't get any accurate readings from the Array so we went to the nearest system to start making repairs. It took several days and when we returned we saw that you were landing the Array on that useless planet and we knew that there was no way for us to go home."

"I see." Ben replied. "Now how did you..."

"Get on your ship undetected." Dukat finished for him. "Let's just say... how do you humans put it? Ah yes, two little birdies told me all I need to know about you and your ship."

'Two little...' Ben thought to himself as he closed his eyes. "Valerie and Ses..."

"Seska, that's right Captain." Dukat replied, his smile deepening. "Valerie told me you were a clever one and she also told me oh so much about this magnificent ship of yours. It sounded so magnificent that I had her and my engineers to modify my ship and others accordingly. I now know about your weapons and system capabilities..."

"But I personally changed her access and command codes the day she left." Ben told him with a frown.

"Yes, but you never seemed to fix a certain shield modulation she told me about." he informed him. "Which explains how we're able to meet today. Oh Valerie told me story after story about you and I admit that I laughed and I cried, but mostly laughed at your progression in the Delta Quadrant."

"How long have you been following us?"

"I've been following you ever since you left the Caretaker's array and might I add I've been doing a better job out here then you have." Dukat told him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked calmly with a raised eyebrow.

"It means that unlike you I don't want to go home." Dukat replied. "When you landed that Array on that planet it sparked an idea. An idea that through the muck and bleak darkness that a new Empire could be built. So after following you for awhile, we broke course and decided to gain an alliance with powerful beings in this sector. In case you didn't know you're now looking at royalty."

"Royalty...?" Ben asked incredulously. "Kira was right about you. You're even more insane then I originally thought."

"Oh good Nerys is still alive." Dukat said, as Ben's body stiffened upon hearing his woman's name coming from his adversary. "After how Seska told me she left her on the floor alone and coughing up blood, I thought that she might have died. Now like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted... you're standing in the prescense of royalty. You're looking at Emperor Dukat... the leader and Commander of the new Cardassian Kazon-Empire."

"You've aligned yourself with the Kazon?" Ben asked in shock. "You've truly gone mad. Dukat these people can't be trusted. They'll kill you."

"I beg to differ Benjamin." Dukat replied as his eyes narrowed. "Sometimes the simplest things can ensure loyalty. All I had to do was set up a meeting with all the leaders of the different Kazon sects and execute them by using my Transporter to send them all into the peaceful blackness of space. Now if doing that in front of all of their lieutenants doesn't make one loyal what would? I promised their people a different future. A brighter future with me in control and the use of new technology. It's a future that I want you to be a part of Benjamin."

"Ahaha... you can't be serious."

"Oh but I am. What I'm saying is in the dark and gloomy part of space, I will build a new Cardassia. A Cardassia that will extend through this entire region and Benjamin I want you to be at my side. After meeting you and talking to Valerie, I know you're the type of person I need." Dukat told him seriously."I'll assume you still speak for all of your people? All I ask of you is your loyalty, your obedience, and the unconditional surrender of your vessel and it's technology."

"I...I'll have to think about that." Ben replied as he picked up his drink and started swirling the liquid around in his glass. Quickly tossing the Kanar into Dukat's face, temporarily blinding him, Ben broke the glass and holding the jagged end of it lunged over the table.

Managing to see enough to defend himself, Dukat blocked Ben's deadly swipe with his phaser, sending both of the weapons with a clatter to the floor. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Ben placed both of his hands together and balled them up into a fist and punched him hard in the stomach.

As Dukat doubled over in pain, Ben then punched him in the face, the force of the blow sending blood flying from his nose. Going for another punch, with a sudden show of speed, Dukat dropped a small hypospray from under the sleeve of his uniform and as Ben tried to punch him again, he ducked and injected it's contents into the Captain's arm.

"Big mistake." Dukat said as he held onto Ben, who was rapidly losing consciousness. "This could have been so easy. You would have been my right hand."

"I'll see you in hell first." Ben replied as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"So be it." Dukat replied, a smile playing at his lips as he tapped his communicator and both he and Ben dematerialzed off of the ship.

The Ares

Bridge

"There it is again." Dax reported to Chakotay as her console started to beep.

"Is it that power glitch you were telling me about?" Chakotay asked as Kira and Tabrin walked out of the turbolift and onto the Bridge, each taking a seat on either side of the Commander.

"Yes sir." Dax said as she typed into her console, before looking to Odo. "I picked up the same glitch and a random proximity alert by the ship. Constable are you picking up any further readings?"

"I've been analyzing the fluctuations since they first happened." Odo replied as he looked over at her. "After reviewing these readings and matching them up with the first one they seem to have been originating from the Observation Lounge and it has a transporter carrier resonance."

"Wait, didn't Ben go to the Observation Lounge?" Kira asked as she looked over at Chakotay.

"Captain, you're needed to the Bridge." Chakotay said as he tapped his combadge, a nervous feeling building up in the pit of his stomach. Not getting an answer, his heart started to fall as he tried again. "Captain please respond."

"Computer, where is Captain Benjamin Sisko?" Kira asked after not hearing Ben's voice over the comline.

"Captain Benjamin Sisko is not on the ship." the Computer reported, making everyone on the Bridge give each other a horrified look.

Dukat's Flagship

The Ziyal Naprem

Brig

Ben stood chained from the ceiling, bruised and battered as his assailant punched him in the stomach again, making him cough up blood.

"Don't loose consciousness on me again, Captain." Valerie told him as she balled up both fists and started to shadow box. "The night's still young." With a smile, she punched him in the stomach again.

As Ben looked at her, with his one good eye that wasn't swollen, he took in his former protege's appearance. She was wearing a standard Cardassian uniform and instead of rank pips, she had a golden rank badge that gave her the rank of Dalin. It was the equivalent of a Lt. Commander if she were still in the Federation. Seeing it, despite himself and his situation, he started to laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" Dalin Valerie asked.

"You are." Ben replied as he spat out a glob of blood that was pooling in his mouth.

"Shouldn't I be the one laughing?" she asked as she put a delicate, yet blood stained hand, under his chin. "You're the one beaten up and bleeding like a stuffed pig."

"Why are you doing this, Valerie?" Ben asked. "Why did you betray me?"

"Me betray you...?" Valerie asked incredulously. "You betrayed me. You've treated me like a second class citizen ever since I came on your ship. You always shot down my ideas and demoted me whenever you felt like it."

"Valerie is that what this is all about?" Ben asked. "Valerie I told you to be patient over and over again for a reason. When I first brought Chakotay onboard and learned that Seska was really a Cardassian, I had to put some plans into place to ensure that we all remained safe. I... I even had to stoop low enough that I illegally detained most of the Maquis and several Starfleet crew members and put them in a holodeck program one by one in an attempt to see if they were a danger to our crew. I then reprogrammed Dr. Erin to administer a surgery on them to make them forget those events. You were one of the only ones on that ship that I trusted completely and that's why I never tested you."

"If that's true then why didn't you tell me?" Valerie asked in shock. She knew things had to be bad if he would go to the extreme and do something like that.

"That was Odo's idea." Ben told her as he spat out some more blood. Damn that woman could hit hard. "He felt that if the fewer amount of people knew about this, that the risk of the Maquis finding out would be minimal. That's why I demoted you, because I needed certain people in different places so they could be watched."

"You're lying!" Valerie yelled in outrage. All of what she had done and told Dukat couldn't have been for nothing. If so she truly had betrayed her oath as a Starfleet officer.

"No I'm not." Ben replied as he grimaced from the pain. "Valerie I was going to promote you to..." before he could tell her, a Kazon and a Cardassian officer walked into the room.

"Emperor Dukat requests your presence on the Bridge." the Cardassian officer told Ben as he smiled at Valerie's handy work, of beating up the Captain of the Ares.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Dalin Valerie took the keys to Ben's chains off of her uniform and started to unshackle him. As she did, Ben leaned in and started to whisper into her ear. Her eyes going wide, she looked after him as her fellow officers started to take her former Captain away.

The Ares

Observation Lounge

"Odo what's that black stuff on the floor?" Tabrin asked as, she, Seven, Dax and Odo started to examine the room. Several chairs were overturned and glass was shattered all over the floor.

Squatting down over the broken bottle, Odo sniffed what was left of it's contents and rolled his eyes. "This is Kanar." Odo answered as he stood up and looked at her. "I'd recognize that stench anywhere."

"Benjamin hates Kanar." Dax said as she took out her tricorder and started to scan a small glob of blood on the floor. "I'm picking up trace amounts of Cardassian DNA."

"Do you think this was Seska?" Seven asked as she looked at Odo and then Dax.

**'Commander Dax, Lieutenant Odo you're needed to the Bridge immediately.'** Chakotay's voice cut in over the comline.

"We're on our way." Odo replied as the group walked out of the room.

The Ziyal Naprem

Shuttle Bay

Using the access codes that Captain Sisko had given her, Dalin Valerie typed them into the Ares shuttle pod that she had stolen, main computer. Bringing up the crews manifest, she typed in her name and what it pulled up made her heart stop.

Ben had promoted her to be the commander of the MACO team and had put a personal letter in her permanent file to Starfleet explaining of her quick thinking, bravery, and undying loyalty.

'What the hell have I done?' she thought to herself as she logged out of the console.

The Ziyal Naprem

Bridge

"Ahhh, Benjamin you've finally arrived." Emperor Dukat said as he and Glinn Damar and Glinn Seska turned to look at him. "Oh my you look a mess. You must have taken a hard fall?"

"Something like that." Ben replied as he narrowed his good eye and spat blood on the Bridge floor.

"Oh, Captain didn't you like Valerie's present to you?" Seska teased as she touched his battered face. "I can't say it made an improvement to your face though."

"It still looks better then yours and believe me you'll get what's coming to you soon." Ben shot back with a chuckle.

"You should show more respect!" Seska snapped as she slapped Ben hard across the face. "You're in..."

"That's enough, Seska!" Dukat roared, but quickly calmed down. "I wanted the good Captain to be here to bear witness." he went on as he waved him forward to look at the viewscreen to see the Ares. "Thanks to Valerie and the information she stole from your ship, right now we are cloaked. But not only just us but Gul Evek's Galor class warship and fourteen Kazon ships are as well and we have the Ares surrounded. Since you refused my offer the least I could do was return the favor and let you watch the destruction of your people."

"And through that destruction and over the ashes of the Ares a new Cardassia will be born." Seska added.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Dukat said with a smile. "Now open a channel to Gul Evek and my other forces. Let them know that we're going to attack the Ares."

"Yes sir." Seska replied happily as she walked over and started to transmit the message.

"We're going to see how your little ship handles the force of my Empire." Dukat told Ben as he started to let out a hardy laugh. All Ben could do was pray at that moment. Pray that his ship, his crew, and his family would make it out of this alive.

A/N Before I go any further with this fic, I wanted to explain why I write some characters the way I do. I don't believe in Mary sue characters. (In old writing terms that's a character that's perfect and knows everything) It's just not my writing style because it's not realistic because we as humans are flawed. I just wanted to show that people make mistakes and they have to suffer through the consequences that are created by them. Anyway that's enough of me ranting for one day. I hope you guys and girls enjoyed this chapter because the next one will be action packed. Please review...


	37. Chapter 35 In Her Father's Chair

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. Much appreciated. I also wanted to apologize for the lack of Chakotay and Seven interaction. I purposely did it that way because I hated how it was done on Voyager when they just threw them together out of nowhere. I want to slowly build them up to be together, but I promise it's going to happen.

Chapter 35

In Her Father's Chair

The Ares

Bridge

"I called you back because we've been getting strange readings around the ship." Chakotay told Odo, as the changeling, Dax, Tabrin, and Seven walked onto the Bridge.

Relieving the Ensign that was at OPS, Dax took her station and frowned as she read the readout on her console. "Commander, these readings are cloaking signatures. They're all around us."

"What!" Chakotay yelled out in confusion as he looked back at her. At that same moment Kes and Tuvok ran out onto the Bridge.

"Commander... we... we have to get out of here." Kes told Chakotay breathlessly as she gave him a worried glance.

"Kes, I don't have time for..."

"Commander she was in the throws of a powerful vision as I was training her in the proper use of her abilities." Tuvok cut in. "And might I remind you sir, but her precognitive powers have proven useful before."

"Sir, some vessels are decloaking." Odo reported.

'Damn it might be too late to run now.' Chakotay thought to himself. "Tuvok assist Odo at Tactical. I have a feeling he's going to need the extra help. Dax, put those ships onscreen."

As they did what he requested, Chakotay's eyes bugged out of his head as he looked past the thirteen Kazon vessels and locked onto two Galor class Cardassian ships and the Kazon battleship Predator that hung in the background.

"What the hell are the Cardassian's doing out here?" Kira asked of no one in particular as she sat up in her chair.

"And when did they and more importantly the Kazon get cloaking technology?" Chakotay said as he and Kira came to the same conclusion at the same time. "Valerie and Seska."

"Four Kazon vessels are breaking pursuit and are closing fast." Odo reported.

"Hail them." Chakotay ordered, trying to stop his heart from beating so fast.

"No response." Dax spoke up.

"Shields to full power." Kira ordered.

"They're charging weapons." Tuvok told them. "The ships are firing!"

The Ares shook with the impact of the combined fire power. "Their energy weapons are concentrated on a focal point on our shields." Tuvok reported. "If they keep firing on that point at higher concentrated bursts our shields will collapse."

'Damnit, Valerie. How much did you tell?' Chakotay thought to himself. "Mr. Marsh, come about and take us under their port side. We need to knock out their weapons array if we want to stand a chance."

"Aye sir." the fresh faced young Ensign replied as he went to work. The Ares then dipped and pivoted around, before going under the ships and into a hail of fire.

"Target their weapons array!" Chakotay shouted over the sound of their weapons hitting the ships shields. "Fire at will!"

The Ares blasted the Kazon's shields, directly at the weak spot that they had analyzed when they had first encountered them when they had came to the Delta Quadrant. They managed to get a few clean hits directly on the array, which exploded and sent a shockwave through the vessels, making the power shut off on three of the enemy ships.

"We did it!" Justin shouted happily. "Their shields are down and three of their ships are..."

"Don't get over confident." Chakotay told the younger man. "We still have a long battle ahead of us."

As if to prove his point, one of the larger Kazon vessels dipped under their comrades ship and the Ares took a volley of energy weapons right to it's bow. The ship shook so hard that the crew was thrown out of their seats.

"Report!" Chakotay shouted as he got to his feet.

"Mom...?" Tabrin asked as she ran over and saw that her mother was on the floor and knocked unconscious.

Looking over at Kira, Chakotay saw that she was bleeding from her forehead and knocked out. "Get her to Sickbay." he told Tabrin as he gave Kes a nod so she could help her. Seeing that they had gotten her out of the way, Seven looking after them as they went, Chakotay looked over to Odo for his report.

"They managed to punch through our forward shields!" Odo said gruffly, as he got to his feet and typed into his console . "They knocked out the main and the backup sensor array."

"Mr. Marsh, get us out of here!" Chakotay shouted, as he sat back down in his command chair.

"In what direction, sir!" Ensign Marsh shouted back.

"Oh, for the love of my people's spirits, we're in space!" Chakotay shouted with wide eyes. He hated to admit it but he'd never have this problem with Tom, because the pilot instinctively knew what to do. "Pick a direction, go to warp, and try not to crash into one of the enemy ships!"

As he said that the Ares took some more hits from more enemy vessels that joined into the fight.

"That last hit took out Helm control." Ensign Marsh reported. "We're trapped."

As the ship was hit even more, under heavy attack by even more vessels, explosions sounded off through the ship.

"We've lost our shields." Tuvok told Chakotay.

"And I still don't have Helm control." Ensign Marsh informed him.

"Chakotay to Engineering." Chakotay said as he heard explosions going off over the comline. "Engineering, report."

**'That last hit took out the starboard nacelle.'** B'Elanna reported. **'We're dead in the water. Bridge! Bridge!'**

"B'Elanna!" Chakotay shouted back as the comline went dead. "Damnit!"

The ship was rocked even harder than before as the attack still continued. Buckling under the stress, fires started to burn on the Bridge and all throughout the ship.

"We've got hull breaches on decks C, D and E." Tuvok reported calmly.

"Close them off." Chakotay said over the hiss of plasma

"The bulkheads and emergency force fields aren't responding." Tuvok informed him. "We're venting atmosphere."

Suddenly the lights flickered twice and went out on the Bridge. Outside of the ship, warp plasma vented from a hole in the starboard nacelle.

Engineering

Hearing a man screaming as fire burned all around her, B'Elanna turned and used an extinguisher on a burning crewman. "Get him to Sickbay!" she snapped at a man that was standing beside her.

"Yes ma'am." the crewman replied as he grabbed his comrade and started to take him out of the room.

"Torres to the Bridge." she said as she hit a panel on one of her engineering consoles. "If you can hear me, I've got plasma leaks all over the place. We're evacuating. Everybody out!" she yelled over the fire as her people started to run out of the room.

Fire suddenly burst out from a small hole on the outer hull of the ship. Panicking, B'Elanna ran to put a force field around the warp core, to protect their only way of making it home. As she started, the computer she was working on exploded, making her fall backwards screaming in pain and clutching at her face as blood gushed out of the second and third degree burns on her face.

Coming back into the room, Sgt. O'Brien looked at the warp core and saw sparks start to shoot out from it. Scanning the warp core with his tricorder, he cursed under his breath as he noticed how unstable it was. Quickly finishing B'Elanna's work, the console he was working on exploded, spewing fragments of debris around engineering. Grabbing B'Elanna, they got out just in time as the emergency bulk heads started to seal off the room.

The Bridge

As Tom finally made it to the Bridge, he relieved Ensign Justin Marsh at the Helm and no sooner did he sit down another blast rocked the ship and made a plasma conduit spark knocking Chakotay out of his seat and to the floor.

"Chakotay!" Seven cried as she ran to his side and held his head in her lap.

"Seven, I..." was all Chakotay could say as he passed out.

Feeling his pulse, she found that he still had one but it was very weak. Before she could do anything further, her eyes suddenly glazed over and for a few seconds she heard her brother's voice whisper into her ear. It was one word that resonated in her mind over and over again and unlocked something in her mind. A hidden protocol. It was a simple word. The word was fight.

Her eyes returning to normal, she gently laid Chakotay's head on the floor and stood to her feet. Seeing Dax about to stand up from her station, presumably to take Chakotay's place, Seven put up her right hand.

"Commander, hold your station." Seven said as she sat down in her father's chair. "Constable, load torpedoes with a maximum warhead yield. Start destroying the nearest ships around us. That should give the rest of them something to think about."

"Commander?" Odo asked as he looked to Dax.

"Do it!" Dax shouted back to him as she saw the enemy coming back for another attack.

Doing as he was told, the Bridge crew watched as five photon torpedoes screamed into the forward shielding of the nearest Kazon battleship, blasting it into flying debris. Coming out of the other side of the vessel, it hit two more, destroying them as well.

"It seems that some of the Kazons are retreating behind the Cardassian ships." Tuvok reported.

"Do not worry about them." Seven said as she sat up in her chair. "Fire the maximum setting of phasers at targets alpha and beta." As she said that they watched the main viewer and saw phaser beams dancing across the hull of both Kazon battleships, crushing their shields. Taking the advantage Tuvok followed up with a few torpedoes that left them disabled and drifting. Seeing that the Ares was starting to gain momentum, the Kazons broke off their attack. At least for the moment. "The Cardassians are responsible for this. Hail them."

"They're responding," said Dax.

"On screen." Seven replied through narrowed eyes as she sat back in her seat.

Dukat appeared on the main screen and smiled as he saw the Ares Bridge cloaked in smoke on a dark, ruined Bridge.

"Where's my father?" asked Seven.

"You must be Seven Sisko?" Dukat asked with a wide smile. "Somehow I thought you'd be... over weight."

"I repeat where's my father!" Seven growled out, her eyes blazing.

"He's dead." Dukat lied with a smile, as one of his ships went back to firing on the Ares.

As the ship shook again Seven's breath started to come out in ragged huffs. "Fire on us again and you will be as well." Seven told him as she sat up in her chair again. "Call off your little fleet or you will die."

"Well let's do a quick review." Dukat said with a raised eyebrow. "You are on the edge of defeat, while I still have most of my ships intact... hmmm what to do..." he trailed off with a laugh. "It's a pity really, because it's a shame to destroy such beauty."

"She's not that pretty." they heard Seska's voice say in the background, the sound of her voice made Seven's body itch and for her to grip her armrests tightly.

"Get him off the screen." Seven ordered. Doing as she requested, Dukat let out a little huff as his face was replaced with some of his advancing ships. "Apply ablative hull armor."

As the armor lifted around the ship, the Kazon fleet, along with Predator started to surround the Ares again. Deciding to go after the lead ship, four photon torpedoes streaked through the black and struck Predator dead on, blasting away it's shields and making it explode.

Flying through it's debris the remaining battleships fired on the Ares with their main blasters. The force of the blasts made Seven grab her armrests to keep from getting thrown out of her chair.

"Ablative shielding down to forty percent." Tuvok announced.

"Mr. Paris, can you get us out of here?" Seven asked.

"Warp drive is still not responding," Tom replied as he kept tapping at his console that was black from lack of the proper amount of power being fed into it.

"Engineering, report!" Seven yelled as the ship started to fall apart around them.

"There was an explosion in, Engineering." Dax reported. "More then likely they had to evacuate."

"If you have anymore tricks up your sleeve, Miss Sisko I'd suggest you start using them now." Odo urged.

As the Kazon continued to cut the Ares into pieces, bodies began to float out of hull breaches on the ship, leaving the Bridge crew to sit wide-eyed and silent, waiting for the end, all except Seven, who sat in her father's chair with her eyes closed.

A/N If you're liking this please review...


	38. Chapter 36 A Moment In Hell

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you love this one.

Chapter 36

A Moment in Hell

The Ziyal Naprem

Bridge

"I am forced to admit something, Benjamin." Dukat said as he turned from the battle playing out and looked to Captain Sisko. "Your people are very well trained and that daughter of yours... Seska you naughty girl you lied to me about her appearance."

"Damn you, Dukat!" Ben growled, still bound by his chains. "When I get out of this..."

"You'll do what?" Dukat asked. "Will you..."

"Emperor, the enemy's shield and weapons array are offline." Damar reported from his Tactical station. "Shall I give the order to destroy them?"

"No." Dukat replied, after a moment of thought as he looked to Seska. "Valerie, Seska I'd like the both of you to lead a boarding party over to the Ares and take it over and execute the crew. Take Benjamin with you and don't kill him or his daughter until I give the order. Put both of them in Cargo Bay one."

"Yes, Emperor." Seska said happily as she grabbed Ben around his wrist cuffs and started to lead him off of the Bridge.

"You see Benjamin, I'm not a bad man." Dukat said as the trio stopped walking and looked over at him. "I'm graceful enough to let you die with your people."

With that said, Dukat smiled as Ben was led off of the Bridge.

The Ares

Bridge

"We're being boarded." Odo reported from Tactical. "Over thirty Kazon troops are on board."

"Mr. Tuvok, assemble the MACO team and take care of the intruders. Constable, please send a security detail to help them and make sure to use deadly force." Seven ordered as she stood to her feet. She expected to have an argument with Odo about killing off the Kazon, but was surprised when she didn't get one. She knew that he respected life and didn't want to kill if he didn't have too, but she assumed after what both of them had seen the Kazon do and what had happened since arriving in the Delta Quadrant that maybe he agreed with her. She just didn't want to take any chances after all of what had happened and what they had lost. "I will head to Engineering to assist them. Commander Dax you have the Bridge."

"Yes ma'am." Dax replied as she gave Seven a look. With a nod, Seven and Tuvok walked onto the turbolift. Sensing someone looking at her, Dax looked around to see Tom and Odo staring at her. Not knowing what to say, she hunched her shoulders and started to send orders to department heads to either assess the damage of the ship or to help defend it from the boarding party.

Mess Hall

"Nee... Neelix we have to find a way out of here." Ensign Andrea Daws said as she and the Talaxian ducked behind the mess serving counter. Nervously looking over the counter Neelix saw as three Kazon troops walked into the room and looked around.

"Three Kazons just came in." Neelix whispered as he sat back down and clutched his phaser tightly.

"What are we going to do?" Andrea asked nervously.

"We try not to die." he replied, swallowing his nervousness. "We shoot over the counter on three."

Nodding her head in agreement, Neelix closed his eyes for a moment before counting down to three. With all the nerve he could muster, he and the Ensign stood up and started to shoot at the startled Kazon troops. Taking one down, one of the troops ran over and started to go hand to hand with Andrea. Before Neelix could help her, the other trooper aimed his weapon at him and fired, shooting Neelixs' weapon instead of him. Throwing the now useless phaser down on the ground, Neelix watched as the trooper smiled and started to approach him.

"What are you going to do now, Talaxian?" the Kazon officer questioned as he made Neelix back up until his back hit the counter. Hearing a slight clattering noise, he looked behind himself and saw a small cutting knife."Take you best shot." the trooper said as he saw the knife and spread his arms out wide.

Picking it up, Neelix threw the small knife at the Kazon, and it sank in his forehead. The Kazon officer screamed as he reached up to his forehead, pulled the knife out, and turned toward Neelix angrily. Without dramatic fanfare the officer fell dead to the floor.

"Ha, Mr. O'Brien has been teaching me how to play darts." Neelix said with a toothy grin.

"Neelix, help me!" Andrea shouted, snapping Neelix back to his surroundings. Turning Neelix ran over and hit the Kazon in the back and if on reflex the trooper snapped out a kick that, made Neelix's knee pop with an audible sound. Crying out in pain, Neelix watched as the Kazon trooper turned on him, with murder in his eyes. The same eyes that rolled in the back of his head as Ensign Daws shot him in the back, making him fall to the ground dead. "Neelix are you all right?"

"I'll... I'll be fine." Neelix rasped out as he leaned on her shoulder. "Let's go and help the others."

Bending down, Andrea picked up the dead Kazon's weapon and handed it to Neelix. Together they ran, or rather limped out of the room.

The Ares

D Deck Corridor

As Seven slowly strode down the corridor, careful of running into any troops, she heard voices ahead of her. Ducking down an adjourning hallway, she listened in on the familiar voices.

"I really don't care what Dukat said." Seska was saying as she stepped away from Ben and pointed her rifle at him. "I'm going to kill you right here. Right now. I'll just tell him you tried to escape."

"No!" Valerie shouted as she jumped in front of Ben and took the shot that was meant for him. Looking down at her stomach, Valerie saw a fist sized hole in it. Her body going into shock, she fell to her knees and then passed out on the ground, gurgling blood out of her mouth.

"Valerie..." Ben whispered as he looked down to his ex officer, who was desperately trying to cling on to life.

"What a pity." Seska said as she looked down at the dying and rapidly bleeding woman on the floor. "I actually liked her." she said with a dark smile as she brought up her weapon and aimed it back at Ben. "Now it's your turn."

"I don't think so." Seven said as she walked from around the corner.

"I'm glad you're still alive." Seska said as she pointed her Cardassian military rifle at Seven's chest, careful to keep an eye on Ben. "Please tell me you're going to beg me for mercy?"

"When my father took me in, even after all of the horrible things I had done as a Borg drone, he taught me all about mercy." Seven told Seska as she cocked her head to the side and looked from Ben back to her.

With a sudden burst of speed, Seven kicked Seska in the chest, forcing the rifle to point at the Cardassian woman's head. Being taken by surprise, Seska's finger squeezed the trigger as the sound of a phaser blast filled the air. Watching with dispassion, Seven saw as Seska's headless body and her gun fell to the floor with an audible thump.

"And that's the last you'll ever see of it." Seven said as she stared at the blood splatter covered wall where Seska's head used to be. Picking up Seska's gun she stepped over the dead woman's body and walked over to her father. Wordlessly, she used the rifle to shoot off his shackles and wrist cuffs.

"Seven..."

"We must hurry father." Seven cut him off. "We have to help take care of the boarding party." Seeing that he was looking past her and to Valerie's dead body, she frowned. "There's nothing we can do for her now. We will honor her sacrifice and we will survive."

Knowing that she was right, Ben let out a wince as he leaned down and closed Valerie's lifeless eyes and took her Cardassian rifle. No matter what she had done, in his eyes she had redeemed herself. Making a silent promise that he would give her a proper Starfleet burial, he strode down the corridor with Seven to help take the ship back over.

The Ziyal Naprem

"Emperor, long range sensors are detecting thirty ships headed in our direction." Damar reported.

"Ahhh, good." Dukat replied with a smile. "Our reinforcements have arrived."

"No... no sir." Damar said as he double checked his readings. "These ships are coming out of the neighboring Vidiian system. Sir..." Damar said as he looked up in shock. "Twenty nine of the ships are Vidiian and the other ship has a Starfleet signature."

"What...?" Dukat questioned as he turned back to the main viewer. 'When did they form an alliance with the Vidiians?' he thought to himself.

Closing his eyes and thinking about the possibility of another Federation ship warping out of the darkness of space sent an excited chill up Dukat's spine. With a smile he sat back in his chair and made a decision as he saw one of his ships make another pass on the Ares.

"Do we stay and fight the Vidiians, sir?" Damar asked. "Or shall I beam our people back?"

"No." Dukat said as his smile deepened and he sat back even more in his command chair. "We'll let the Ares go so they can lick their wounds. Captain Sisko learned a valuable lesson today and I want him to stay alive just a little longer. That's the only way he'll learn. Hail what's left of the fleet and tell them to retreat."

"What about the boarding party?" Damar asked.

"We don't have time to start beaming them back." the Emperor responded. "Seska will just have to improvise. Now..."

"But sir." Damar cut him off.

"Are you questioning my orders?" Dukat asked as he turned around and scowled at his last commander.

"No... no sir." Damar replied as he looked down and stared at his console, before typing into it. "I've sent the message to the fleet. We're warping out of the system now."

The Ares

Bridge

"Another breach on C deck, E deck's depressurizing." Odo reported "We can't take much more of this." As he said that the shaking and jolting stopped and the ship went very quiet, with the exception of some plasma conduits slowly hissing out steam and the roar of a few dying fires.

"They've ceased firing." Odo reported. "They're moving off, back into the system. Also the MACO team is reporting that they've put down the boarding party. We're in the clear."

Checking and confirming Odo's station readings, Dax let out a sigh of relief before turning to the ships Chief Helmsman. "Tom, get us out of here."

"Thrusters are down." Tom replied as he looked back at her from the Helm. "I don't think we're going anywhere."

Sickbay

The sickbay was like hell in space, with patients slumped in the passageway outside, bleeding on the deck and smearing more blood on the walls and floor. When the wounded parted to let Seven and Ben pass, he felt intense guilt. He was the one that was supposed to protect these people.

As Ben walked all the way inside, he saw that the carpet was drenched in blood and gore as Doctor Erin, assisted by Kes and Tabrin who were performing basic first aid for her, was working on patients as they all staggered into the room. Erin worked on a critically injured patient lying on a bio-bed, her hands moving seemingly faster than Ben could follow.

Ben knew the woman that Erin was working on. That was the blessing and the curse of having a crew so small. He got to know all of their names. She was a beautiful Asian crewman by the name of Jessica Lang. She had a sister and an older brother back in Boston and she was happy because she was the first person in her family to be a part of Starfleet. She also wanted to one day be a Starfleet Captain. Just a day before she had complemented him on how good his cooking was, but now...

His mind snapping back to what was happening, Ben saw that Erin had opened her chest cavity without even bothering to remove her uniform, her tunic or set up a barrier to keep the rest of sickbay from looking. As Ben approached the bio-bed, the holographic doctor looked over at him and said, "Please stand back, captain." As she said that Ben noticed that her hands never stopped moving.

Suddenly the alarms from the monitor started zeroing out and Jessica's vital signs started to collapse. Hearing the beginning sounds of death the entire sickbay went quiet. With professional detachment Erin kept working, even reaching further down to manually stimulate the woman's heart to keep it beating. But it didn't matter what Erin did because it was a heart that would never beat again.

Finally realizing that fact, Erin gave up and withdrew her hands and let out a sigh. Shaking her hands slightly, she put them under the sterilizer and watched as the blood on them started to evaporate. "She's dead, Ben" Erin said as two men walked forward. "Take her body away and put it with the others."

Doing as they were told they grabbed Jessica from either end, and took her away. As they passed him, Ben reached out and closed her eyes. He'd never forget the look of horror that was etched on the young woman's face. Jessica deserved better then that. All of his people who died today did.

Looking Ben over, Erin started to scan him with a medical tricorder. "No internal injuries. Numerous contusions consistent with blunt trauma and a few bumps and bruises." she said. "You'll live."

"But how many have we lost?" Ben asked sadly.

"Eight." Erin replied as she let out another sigh. She hated loosing people. "Two are unaccounted for."

"Don't waste time on me." Sisko mumbled.

"Despite everything it's good to see you again, Captain." Erin replied as she went to tend to some others on the bio-beds.

"Dad!" Tabrin yelled, as she ran over to him. "How are you..."

"I'm fine." Ben cut her off as he pulled her into a hug and winced with the effort. "Where's your mom?"

"Behind you." Kira answered. Turning Ben saw his woman and Chakotay walking into the room. "You look like hell. How did Dukat capture you and why did he let us go?"

"I can't explain all of it but what I do know I'll tell you later." Ben told her as he ran a hand through her hair and then down her cheek. Not pulling away, Kira embraced his touch.

"Sir, I... I saw Valerie dead in one of the corridors." Chakotay told him, a cold chill running down his spine. "What are we going to do with her body?"

As he asked that Ben and Seven gave each other a look. "We're going to treat her body like we would with anyone from our family." Ben replied as O'Brien walked into the room. "I don't care what you do with Seska and the Kazons bodies. Blow all of them out of an airlock for all I care."

"Our damage report, sir." O'Brien started as he handed over a padd to Ben. "The warp core is stabilized but we still can't get warp yet. I inspected the hull around the exhaust manifolds, to see the damage first-hand and we'll at least have impulse power in six hours." as he said that he stared at two bodies on the floor, covered by blankets. Shaking his head, he remembered that he had to get used to a sight like that from his time at war.

"Where's B'Elanna?" Ben asked as he looked up from the padd. "Is she..."

"She's resting in her quarters, sir." O'Brien replied with a warm smile. "She's a stubborn one. After I brought her here to be treated from her concussion and her plasma burns she tried to go back to work. The doctor had to give her a sedative."

"Hmmm, that sounds like B'Elanna." Ben muttered as O'Brien went on with his report.

"The com system's still down and most of the hull breaches have been contained with emergency force fields and bulkheads." O'Brien said with a sigh at what was coming next. "The primary warp coil's fried. It has to be rebuilt from scratch."

"How long?" Chakotay asked.

"A couple of weeks, if we had the parts." Miles said as he turned to him. "We don't. As it stands now, warp drive's out of the question and if my estimates are right it'll take another six to seven weeks to fix the rest of the ship."

"When B'Elanna wakes up get with her." Chakotay advised. "This isn't the Val Jean but I swear that woman could keep that ship a float with shoe strings and a bottle cap. Hopefully she'll have some ideas on what to do about the repairs to the ship's warp drive."

"Make the warp core your priority." Ben ordered. "I'll send as many others as possible to handle the other repairs to the ship."

"Yes sir." O'Brien replied as turned to leave, only to turn back. "It's good to have you back."

With a nod from Sisko, O'Brien walked out of the room. "After a tour of the Bridge I'm going to start the funeral arrangements. What?" Ben asked as they looked at him sheepishly.

The Bridge

The Bridge of the Ares was not how Ben had remembered it. Pieces hung down, consoles were destroyed and clutter was everywhere. Next to him stood Chakotay, who looked around himself in disbelief.

"I'm gone for a few hours and this is what I'm greeted with when I come back?" Ben asked of his First Officer.

"Oh so you're back, Captain." Tom cut in as he looked to Seven. Seeing that he was looking at his daughter instead, Ben looked around the room in confusion.

"Oh didn't Miss 'Constable destroy them' tell you?" Odo interjected, teasingly.

"Tell me?" Ben asked as he looked at the shape-shifter. "Tell me what?"

"That she took over the ship when Kira and Commander Chakotay were incapacitated." Odo informed him.

"What?" Ben asked with wide eyes as he turned to the OPS station. "Old man...?"

"Don't look at me, Benjamin." Dax replied as she threw her hands up. "She's your daughter and you know how you Sisko's get when you have that look in your eyes."

"Seven...?" Ben asked as he turned to his eldest daughter. Before she could speak, O'Brien's voice came over the comline.

**'Can you hear me, Captain?'** O'Brien asked.

"Loud and clear, Sergeant." Ben answered as he gave Seven a look as if saying we'll talk about this later. "And please have some good news."

**'I'm sorry but I don't.'** Sgt. O'Brien replied. Ben could have sworn he heard the man sigh on the other end of the channel. **'The starboard impulse reactor is completely destroyed and the backup is badly damaged and was forced into shutdown mode. We've lost half our remaining power generation and propulsion, but the Engineering crew down here did manage to get our aft torpedo launchers and one forward phaser bank online. I really don't know what's holding us together, but let's hope it doesn't give out.'**

"What about Cargo Bay two?" Seven asked. "There are engineering components in there that are crucial to your repairs."

**'I don't know.'** O'Brien answered. **'There's no way to get to it. A large portion of E deck is still decompressed.'**

"I'd like you to get a team together to begin repairs on E deck." Ben ordered.

**'I'll have to pull people from other areas.'** O'Brien told him.

"That's fine. I want my ship fixed before Dukat decides to come back for another attack."

**'Aye sir.'** O'Brien replied as the com-channel was cut.

Suddenly Dax's station started to beep, making her jump slightly. Reading the information that was on the display, she frowned. "Benjamin there are several vessels approaching." she reported.

"Is it Dukat?" Sisko asked, worriedly.

"No sir, it's the Vidiians." Dax replied as she looked up at him in confusion. "And there are over thirty ships entering this system."

"Constable, get those aft torpedoes ready!" Ben snapped out. He didn't know how much his ship could take but he knew it wasn't going to be much more.

"Targeting." Odo replied as he started to work the controls.

"The Vidiian vessels just dropped out of warp." Dax informed the Bridge crew. "The lead ship is hailing us."

"Onscreen." Ben ordered. As Dax did as he asked the face he was looking at was of someone that couldn't possibly be of the Vidiian race. The man had the facial appearance that was similar to a Human with two eyes, a nose and a mouth, but he also possessed a swept back hairline and a slightly enlarged forehead with no eyebrows. There was also a slight ridge that ran from the hairline down the center of the forehead to the top of the nose.

"I'm sorry if my people startled you, Captain Sisko." the man started with a familiar voice. "I also wanted to apologize to you for the way we had last seen one another."

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage." Ben replied in confusion. "Who are you?"

"My apologies." the man said with a smile. "The last time you saw me I looked like... quite the bit of a monster. My name is Zeroth."

"Ze... Zeroth?" Ben asked, breathlessly. "But your face..."

"Let's just say that your doctor's cure worked." Zeroth said with another smile. "As I told you our medical techniques are far superior to your own. When we took those nanoprobes we managed to turn the few hundred we were given into millions and then billions. The Phage is no more. We detected weapons fire in this sector of space and when we found out that it was you, I put together a militia and headed this way. Forgive us for being late but you are celebrated as a God on my home-world and it would be my honor to tow you back to my world and assist you in repairing your vessel."

"It's not like I'm in a position to decline your offer." Ben replied as he looked from Dax, Kira, Chakotay and then back to Zeroth.

"Good, I will begin docking clamp procedures on your ship and start towing it to our automated drydock." Zeroth replied back as he suddenly thought of something. "I beg your forgiveness again Captain, but there is an old friend of yours here that would like to say hello."

'An old friend?' Ben thought to himself, as another face appeared on the screen. It was a man he hadn't seen since he released his ship to him at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars.

"So I see you've gotten yourself into a bit of trouble." Captain Rudolph Ransom said with a wide smile.

"Rudy..." Ben replied with a chuckle. "Your ship was the one we've been searching for this whole time?"

"It seems like we found you instead." Ransom replied. "And not a moment too soon. What happened?"

"It's a long story." Ben replied as he let out a sigh.

"Well tell me about it when we get on Vidiia Prime. It's a beautiful planet Benjamin, you'll love it." Ransom responded. "The first round of scotch is on me."

"I'll hold you to that." Ben said, knowing that after all of what happened that he would need a stiff drink. And honestly he needed another Captain to talk too.

Taking their stations, the crew of the Ares, held on as Zeroth's ship hovered over them and used a pair of magnetized hooks to clamp onto the Ares. As other Vidiian ships zoomed around, they managed to gather the dead bodies that had came from the Ares and were now free floating in space. Thankful that their nightmare was over for now, the Ares was towed away and led into the Vidiian system.

A/N Please review...


	39. Chapter 37 For The Uniform

A/N Thanks for all of those reviews guys. I hope you like this newest chapter.

Chapter 37

For The Uniform

Vidiia Prime

Automated Drydock

'It doesn't seem like the Ares could fit inside those docking berths.' Ben thought to himself as the ship arrived at the rather small repair station. Before he could order Dax to hail Zeroth's ship, the station sent out a bright light that swept over the Bridge.

"It's a bio-molecular probe." Dax answered Ben's unasked question.

After a few seconds one of the two docking bays opened and expanded to receive the starship.

"It's reconfiguring to fit the saucer section." Seven informed him.

Access tubes extended to meet the docking ports as the Ares slid to a halt inside of it.

Carefully, Ben, Seven, Erin and the rest of the Ares Bridge crew left the ship and followed the bright flashing lights into a pristine white space station. As they looked out of the view-ports on the station, they saw that it was scanning their vessel. After a few minutes an all-purpose gantry arm created force-fields, welding equipment, replicated bulkheads and generally started to rebuild the ship.

"This automated repair station was created by our ancestors and a species known as the Vaadwaur hundreds of years ago." Zeroth told the assembled Ares and Equinox crew as he stepped off his ship and joined them in the docking corridor. "It should have your ship fixed within a few days."

"Umm.. excuse me umm, Mr. Zeroth but did you say the Vaadwaur?" Neelix asked with a limp as their guide stopped walking and looked back at him.

"Yes... most of our historical database was destroyed centuries ago and we don't know much about them, except that they left before the Phage started to mutate and turn us into living monsters." Zeroth explained. "Have you heard of them before?"

"In my species old tongue the word vaadwaur is a term that means foolish." Neelix started. "As in those who trusted them were foolish. If memory serves they were a very violent race that vanished without a trace centuries ago."

"Right before the Phage mutated and killed millions of my people." Zeroth realized as he looked to Neelix. The Talaxian had just helped to solve a mystery that had plagued his people for centuries. The disease probably started off as something natural but the Vaadwaur could have done something to escalate it.

"It's not that I don't like a good history lesson." Captain Ransom spoke up, interrupting the two as he looked to Ben. "But I think we should have a long talk, Captain to Captain, while your ship is being repaired."

"I agree." Ben said as he looked over at Zeroth. "Thank you for your hospitality. Mr. Chakotay, will you please talk to our hosts in my absence? Rudy and I have a lot of talking to do."

"Aye, sir." Chakotay replied as Ben and Captain Ransom walked off. "Mr. Neelix, are you limping?" Chakotay asked as he turned to look at the Talaxian.

"Oh, it's nothing Commander." Neelix replied. "It happened during the attack and I can get the Doctor to look at it later."

"Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?" Erin asked as she walked up behind him and started to push him. "I brought my medical equipment. Mr. Zeroth can you direct me towards your medical facilities?"

"Of course." Zeroth replied as he walked over to them. "I'll have Doctor Sulan meet you there. I'll be back in a moment, Commander."

"Come on Neelix." Kes started as she took his other arm and started to lead him down the corridor.

"Oh... but, I'm fine... I'm fine." Neelix called out to them too no avail as they led him away.

"He seemed really nervous." Tom said with a chuckle.

"You would be too if you saw what these people had done to ours." B'Elanna commented as she walked up to him. Some of the Vidiians had transported over and assisted with the medical treatment of the crew. She had to admit that they were efficient and now her face barely even stung from where she had plasma burns. "Neelix volunteered to be a part of the team that buried the Maquis on planet Meat."

"Jeez... I didn't know that." Tom replied with a grimace.

"I didn't care much for Neelix's cooking at first, although it drastically improved, but he has a heart of gold pressed latinum." she told him as she let out a sigh and decided to change the subject. "We can't use the holodecks, so I wonder what they have to do on this planet?"

"Maybe we should explore it." Tom suggested.

"I'd like that." B'Elanna said with a toothy grin that quickly faded. "But let's not go too far. They might have saved our butts back there but I still don't trust these people because of what they did to the Maquis."

"So I guess this'll be a weird little date then?" Tom asked.

"Why does it have to be a weird da..."

"BLT?" a voice interrupted from behind her.

Recognizing the voice of that of her old boyfriend, B'Elanna turned with a gasp. "Max?" she asked as they shared a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Max told her with a smile. "We should catch up. If you're not busy later then we should have dinner."

"Umm... well I did have a weird little date to go too." B'Elanna replied as she looked back to Tom. "But I'm sure I can change my plans and go with you."

"Good." Max told her as he put a hand on the small of her back and started to lead her away. "I know this nice Vidiian restuarant. Some of the food is kinda iffy but I'll let you know what's good."

Not knowing why he was so upset to see B'Elanna walking away with another man, Tom was suddenly slapped across the back of his head. "Ow!" Tom yelled as he turned around to see Ro giving him a look of sheer disappointment. "Ro what the..."

"You're blowing it, flyboy." Ro cut him off as he looked at her in confusion. "In case you didn't know but B'Elanna likes you."

"I like her too." Tom replied as he rubbed at the sore spot on the back of his head. "I think we'll be good friends."

"I'm not talking about that kinda like dummy." Ro replied with a shake of her head. "I mean she likes you... likes you."

"Oh." he replied as realization dawned on him."But it's... it's not like Id mind starting a relationship with her but I just broke up with Seven."

"You know the old saying." Ro replied with a smile. "Sometimes you have to jump back on the saddle."

"No." Tom said as he looked her in the eyes. "B'Elanna is a good woman and I don't want to mess this up by bringing what I feel about Seven into our relationship. I need some time to... what?" he asked as she put her hand on his forehead.

"You don't have a fever." Ro told him as she removed her hand. "What's wrong with you? You don't sound like the same old Tom Paris from the academy."

"Hey, it's called character development." Tom replied with a chuckle. "Look if I didn't just mess things up with B'Elanna, I'll try for her again but when I'm ready."

"You've been talking to Tabrin haven't you?" Ro asked with a grin.

"I'm not at liberty to say." Tom replied as he smiled back at her and walked away.

'Damn he's changed.' Ro thought to herself as she turned and started to walk with him. 'Maybe I'm trying to fix him up with the wrong girl.'

* * *

"Hmmm, it's been a crazy day hasn't it?" Chakotay asked as he walked over to Seven.

"I don't believe that crazy is the term I'd use to describe today." Seven replied. "But it's adequate for now."

"So, you taking over the ship..." Chakotay started with a smile. "Is that part of your brother's programming?"

"I suppose so." Seven replied evenly as she gave him a look. "Are you engaging me in small talk?"

"I guess and it seems that I'm doing a bad job." he replied as they both started to chuckle. Sobering up, he looked at her seriously. "I heard about you and Tom. I'm sorry."

"Who told you about us?" Seven asked as the two started walking.

"Seven it's a small ship and people talk." Chakotay replied as she gave him a look. "Okay B'Elanna told me. She also told me... that it was my fault."

"You're only partially to blame." she replied as she stopped walking and looked up at him. "The rest of the blame lies with me. I was never completely honest with Tom about how I felt. I have strong feelings for him... but even stronger ones for you."

Chakotay was going to say that he had deep lingering feelings for her too, but then he thought about a few things. At least he'd had a long time to think about her relative to how much time she had. She'd been trapped in an anomoly for three years with the fresh pain of how he had left her still embedded in her mind. Six months and then the few weeks in the Delta Quadrant before he showed up might not have been enough time for her to get over him. And with just that was another problem. He'd just popped back up in her life. Trying to put himself in her shoes, he tried to think what if the same thing happened to him.

"Seven, I... I know you still have feelings for, Tom...?" Chakotay stuttered, changing what he was going to say.

"Tom... Tom will always have a piece of my heart." she answered honestly. "But as it was pointed out to me, I can't have two men in my heart."

"Seven, I'll be completely honest with you." Chakotay started. "I'm not Tom. I'm not putting him down because Tom is a good man that has earned my respect but unlike him I can't wait forever. You know that both of us have feelings for you. He even told you he loves you..."

"How do you feel about me?" Seven interrupted, anxiously awaiting his answer.

"I'm the type that really doesn't like to tell a girl how I feel." he answered as she gave him a look of confusion. "I show her. Seven I won't lie and say I don't have feelings for you but at the end of the day you are the ultimate person that has to make the decision on who you want to be with. I can only imagine how Tom feels right now and I don't want to feel like that too. Look I'll be perfectly blunt, it's possible that it's going to take us seventy years to get back home and the crew is only going to have each other for company and later we might even have to turn into a generational ship to keep it going until we reach home. If it comes to that then I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with. I don't want to spend the next seventy years alone and I don't want to be with someone that has another man in their heart. Seven, choose and let me know what you decide." With that Chakotay walked away, Seven looking after him as he went.

Vidiian Medical Facility

Doctor Sulan's Office

"You're killing me!" Neelix roared out in pain.

"Push your leg down, Mr. Neelix." Doctor Sulan soothingly replied as he held the Talaxian's six toed foot. "I have to put your knee back in place. Two more seconds and then you can rest."

"It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain." Neelix said as he looked to Kes and then Doctor Erin for support. "Can it Doctor?"

"Technically it's unethical to harm a patient." Erin replied. "But we doctors can inflict as much pain as we like in order to treat them. A positive attitude is vital to the healing process. The more you complain the longer your recovery is likely to take."

"When will Neelix be able to return to duty?" Kes asked as she held her boyfriend's hand.

"Another week, possibly two." Erin replied as she took out her tricorder and started to scan him.

"Two weeks!?" Neelix shouted in alarm as he tried to sit up on the medical bed he was laying on. Sulan put an arm on his chest and pushed him back down.

"Attitude, Neelix." Erin replied with a smile.

"It might take two weeks from your point of view Doctor." Sulan replied as he looked to Erin. "But as I'm sure you're aware, our medical techniques are far more sophisticated then your own. Mr. Neelix should be back to normal in another day or so."

"What... but how..."

"In our search for a cure for the Phage we've gathered lots of knowledge on medicine." Sulan explained as he started to talk medical jargon to her.

Seeing that they were getting caught up in their talk, Kes looked over to her boyfriend. "How are you feeling?"

"I... I don't know yet but the pains not all that bad." Neelix replied as he put his bad leg down on the floor. With a look of surprise it didn't hurt that much. "No, not bad at all."

Vidiia Prime

From what little Dax and Odo saw of planet Vidiia, it was nothing like they had expected. They naturally assumed that it would look rotted and distorted like the Vidiians once did but the planet was just as beautiful as Earth.

"This is a beautiful place." Dax commented as she looked around, smiling as she saw three children playing with a large red top. "Constable, do you ever think about having someone in your life and having children?"

"Women don't respond to me in that way." Odo replied gruffly as he folded his arms over his chest. "And as far as children... harumph."

"I don't know about women not responding to you like that." Dax went on. "I've seen plenty of women on the ship eyeing you."

"Nonsense, I would have noticed."

"Odo you can't see everything and as far as children, you could always adopt." Dax said, sensing what the problem was. "Just look at Ben and Seven. They don't treat each other differently."

"What happened to your face?" one of the little children asked as she walked over to Dax and Odo.

"Nothing happened to my face." Odo told her, as he looked away. "I'm a shape-shifter. I just don't do faces very well. I have the ability to change my shape to look like other things."

"You mean you're a Quigley Morph?" the girl asked, making Dax and Odo look at each other.

"That's right." Odo replied as he squatted down to her level to look at her.

"There's no such thing as Quigley Morphs." she told him with a smile. "They're make-believe. Everyone knows that."

"Well, I'm not make-believe." Odo told her with a shake of his head.

"All right, then let me see you change into something."

"Maybe later. Right now I feel like talking."

"If I were a Quigley Morph, I'd change shapes all the time. Everyone would want to be my friend." the girl told him as she looked down to the ground.

"I wish it were that easy." Odo replied with a sigh.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked as she looked back up at him.

"When I was younger, people were always asking me to change shape for them. They'd pretend to be my friends, but all they wanted was to see me become a chair or an animal." Odo replied, thinking of days long past. "None of them ever really cared about me."

"Maybe they were scared of you." the girl suggested. "Just like people were scared of us."

"Some of them probably were."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"I'm glad to hear that." Odo told her with a genuine smile.

"Were your parents Quigley Morphs too?" she asked.

"I never knew my parents." Odo told her honestly. "I've been looking for them a long time."

"My parents died when I was four." the girl told him as she looked down at the ground again. "I don't remember them very well and now I live in an orphanage."

"I'm sorry." Odo told her sadly.

"Sataya, it's time to come back!" a Vidiian woman yelled out as she stood in front of what Odo assumed was the orphanage.

"I have to go back." Sataya told Odo. "Will I see you again?"

"I'll be here for awhile." the Constable told her. "And my name is, Odo."

"Bye, Odo!" Sataya yelled out as she ran and fell in line with the other children that were walking into the orphanage.

"What?" Odo asked, as he stood back to his feet and saw Dax smiling at him.

"I thought you said you weren't good with children?"

"In case you haven't noticed Commander, but I'm a real people person." Odo replied as Dax laughed at him.

The Equinox

Ready Room

"So it seems like we got here a few months before you did." Captain Ransom was telling Ben as Sisko related his story of how he and his crew made it to the Delta Quadrant. "We were performing a scientific survey near the Badlands and like you a bright light engulfed my ship and brought us to the Delta Quadrant. We tried to hail the array and it scanned us and never answered us back. My ship was heavily damaged and we scanned that Ocampa planet you told me about but found that it was a dead world. After doing repairs on our ship we set a course for home."

"So you've never encountered the Kazon?" Ben asked as he took a sip of his scotch.

"No, but I see that we did both encounter the Krowtonan guard." Rudolph replied. "I... I lost almost half of my crew going through their space."

"How did you get past them anyway?" Ben asked. "Your ship doesn't have ablative hull armor and isn't built for combat."

"No but I am a exobiologist." Ransom replied with a smile as he started to drink his scotch as well. "I studied the Xindi and they used a similar attack that the Krowtonan's used on our ship, so I knew how to get out of it. We spent another couple of weeks in their space until we hit a large pocket of subspace mines. We... we were on the verge of starving until the Vidiians showed up. They fed us and fixed our ship and they told us all about you. We were actually a day and a half from launching back out to try to find you until the Vidiians told us about the Kazon and the Cardassians taking over alot of territories in neighboring systems. We're just a scientific research vessel and we're not equipped with powerful weapons. Zeroth just got it approved with the Vidiian High Council to launch an armada in search of you. Zeroth wasn't kidding when he told you that some people on this planet worship you like a God."

"I see." Ben replied after a moment of thinking. "I'll get with my daughter Seven and a couple of my engineers and see if they can assist in upgrading your ship. We came into the possession of new tactical data and upgrades and we'll gladly share them with your ship and add them to our own." Ben told him as he thought about all the data that Tabrin had brought with her. Now since his ship was at a drydock he could add them to his ship.

"Thank you, I know my crew will really appreciate that." Ransom told him with a smile. "My ship also doesn't have a holodeck. Do you think that girl of yours can convert one of our cargo bays into one?"

"I'm sure that it won't be a problem." Ben replied as he picked up his drink and stared at it's contents for a moment. "Rudy I wanted to ask you a serious question. You've been out here just as long as I have and I'd assume that you've had to do things you wished a thousand times that you didn't..."

"You can say that again." Captain Ransom muttered darkly, thinking of the day he gave the order to continue on through Krowtonan space. Thirty nine people had died that day and their deaths would be tied to his soul forever.

"Do you get tempted to submit to that darkness that grows in your heart that the Delta Quadrant forces you to see?"

"Every single day." Ransom replied, emphasizing each word. "And I know that my crew does too."

"How... how do you get through it?" Ben asked.

"I don't... I've learned over the years that darkness is a part of every man's heart no matter how they try to hide it." Rudy told him. "I just have to remember my oath as a Starfleet Captain and the commitment I made to my crew. That's what helps me not fall into that darkness. I made a promise to get my people home and I will try as hard as I can to uphold Starfleet regulations to do it."

"Thank you for your advice and for the drink, Rudy." Sisko replied as he drank the last of his scotch in one gulp and stood to his feet. "I have to make burial arrangements for tomorrow."

'I know how you feel then.' Rudy thought sadly as he drank the last of his own drink. "I'll talk to you soon then, Captain."

Early Morning

The Elysian Fields of Vidiia Prime

A cool breeze blew through the land and the purple leaves of tall trees as Ben walked past eight torpedo casings. Stopping as he got to Valerie's, he looked down at her and gave her a soft sad smile. He had her changed back into a crisp new Starfleet uniform, complete with Lt. pips. Regretting the decisions the both of them had made, he looked up into the early morning sun and then out onto the crowd of Vidiian and Starfleet officers from the Ares and the Equinox. Clearing his throat he started his people's eulogies.

"My father used to say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I laid the first stone when we came to the Delta Quadrant. I'd committed myself. I'd pay any price, go to any lengths, because my cause was righteous and I wanted to get my people home. My... intentions were good. In the beginning, that seemed like enough, but now I look down at my people..." Ben stopped as he looked down at the eight bodies of his officers, stopping as he got to Valerie and Jessica who was laid beside her. "... and now I question myself. But I don't have the luxury of self doubt, because these people believed in me. They believed in me enough to give up their lives and I will honor their sacrifice and make sure that we get home."

Looking at the bodies laying in their casings, he nodded his head and the Bridge crew stepped forward with shovels and started to dig holes in the nice soft ground. Kira walked past each casing and said a prayer in Bajoran and sprinkled ceremonial salt over their bodies. His body not fully healed, Ben let out a wince as he bent down and picked up his shovel. Trying to steel his shaking hands, he suddenly felt someone place their warm hands on his own. Glancing up he saw that it was Seven, with Tabrin standing behind her with a shovel of her own. Taking the tool out of his hand, Seven started to dig Valerie's grave for him.

"That was a wonderful speech, Captain Sisko." Zeroth said as he and Ben walked away from the graves.

"Thank you." Ben replied as he looked back to his daughters. "Also thank you for letting us bury our people on your planet."

"That isn't a problem." his host replied. "You... humans have strange customs though... burying your dead. We Vidiians tend to burn our peoples bodies, to free them of their chakra."

"Different people on my planet observe different burial rights." Sisko informed him. "I just felt that this was best for my people. I'll have a talk with you later." he told Zeroth over his shoulder and walked away.

The Ares Observation Lounge

Later that day

"You wished to see me father?" Seven asked as walked into the room.

"Yes." Ben replied with a warm smile. "Have a seat."

"The Vidiians are at their borders doing a sensor sweep on the area for tachyon emissions to make sure Dukat or any of his people don't sneak into their space. The repairs to the ship are also going ahead of schedule." Seven reported as she took a seat. "In a few more days..."

"I didn't call you in here for a report, Seven." Ben told her softly. "I just wanted to see how you were doing?"

"What is troubling you, father?" Seven asked as she noticed a strange look in his eyes.

Letting out a sigh, he looked at her once more and stood to his feet so he could look out the window. "I've been thinking long and hard about our journey in the Delta Quadrant and I don't know how long I can keep following Starfleet guidelines and regulations."

"What do you mean?" Seven asked in confusion.

"I... we have to be more aggressive and strike our enemies before they do this to us again. I should have blown Seska out of an airlock the moment I learned that she was a Cardassian!" Ben shouted as he slapped his hand hard across the desk and sat back down, tugging the bottom of his uniform as he did. "Look at all that she managed to do and all of the lives she altered."

"Is that how you still feel about me, father?" Seven asked, unpreturbed by his antics.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, trying to calm himself.

"I was a Borg drone before I became your daughter." Seven went on. "I was responsible for assimilating and destroying many lives..."

"But Seven you..."

"You saw through what I was and you gave me a chance." Seven continued. "You gave Seska a chance too and she decided not to change. However difficult it may be we must look ahead of ourselves to a brighter future and adapt. We will use Starfleet guidelines... however improbable some of those guidelines may be." she said as she took one of his hands in her own. "You raised me to believe the order that those guidelines bring into our Collective. Without order we will descend into darkness and be no better then Seska or Dukat. If we give in now, we will lose our way and I fear who we will become."

"You should really listen to her dad." Tabrin said as she walked into the room, having heard the last part of what they had said. "If we start going down that dark path we're going to end up like the others."

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked as he and Seven shared a look.

"I um... didn't exactly come to this universe when I was transported off my ship." Tabrin replied nervously, she really wanted to just forget that experience. "Your transporter might have said it lost my signal for two seconds but I was sent somewhere else for two days."

"Where did you go?" Seven asked with a raised eyebrow. Letting out a sigh, Tabrin sat down next to them and started to relate her story.

Mirror Universe

The Delta Quadrant

ISS Warship Hades

Sickbay

"I find this to be very intriguing." a man was saying in the darkened room of the Sickbay area as he ran a white hand along an unconscious Tabrin's face.

"I knew you would, doctor." a husky female voice replied. "We found her and a few other interesting things in the Transporter room." she said as she held on to the padd and mobile emitter that doctor Bashir had given the girl, in black gloved hands.

"I've ran a few scans on her and she's the daughter of Captain Sisko and an unknown Bajoran female."

"Is that so?" the woman replied, as a crooked smile appeared on her face. "I'll be back to check on her later and make sure not to tell the captain about this. Let me know the second she wakes up." she said as she turned to leave.

"Yes, Commander Janeway." the doctor replied as he touched at Tabrin's face again.

"Oh and Doctor Lore, don't harm this one like you did the others I brought to you." Commander Kathryn Janeway said as she turned and looked at the yellow eyed android. "At least not until I give you that order."

"Yes ma'am." Lore replied with an evil smile himself as he watched Janeway walk out of the room. Returning his gaze to Tabrin he gently touched her wrinkled nose.


	40. Chapter 38 Dirty Mirror pt 1

A/N I've taken some liberties with this Mirror Universe. For those of you that watched DS9 when they showed some of the mirror universe episodes they said that Ben was killed in action, but it wasn't displayed on screen. My take on it was that he wasn't killed but him and his crew were transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker of that universe.

Since they are away from the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, they built a ship, using the Ocampan and Kazon people of whom they promised to annex land to when they get back to the Alpha Quadrant and are now leading a fleet of other ships back to the Caretaker's array to try to take it over and get back to the AQ. This is the ISS Warship Hades maiden voyage. The ship is basically how Voyager looked in the episode Living Witness. Also their uniforms are the same as on that episode too. Not everyone wants to go home. Some want to stay in the Delta Quadrant to start a new Terran Alliance, which threatens a mutiny on the ISS Hades.

Also this entire chapter will take place in the Mirror Universe.

Dark Starfleet Code:

When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative: violence. Force must be applied, without apology. It's the Starfleet way.

Chapter 38

Dirty Mirror pt. 1

Sickbay

A tall beautiful blonde walked into Sickbay and swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. The room was a grim, menacing sight. Only a couple of lights shone in the middle of the room and what they were shining on sparked the young woman's imagination.

Walking all the way into the room, she took a quick look around and walked up to the young Bajoran woman that lay unconscious on the biobed. The Terran uniform that she wore was similar to the others that were on the ship, but she didn't wear black gloves and had a gold badge on her chest. Looking down at her own uniform, if that's what you would call it, she laughed as she saw her bare stomach. She was wearing a skin tight black and blue outfit that had her stomach and back out.

With another quick look around, the blonde touched the Bajoran woman on her wrinkled nose. Tracing her hand down to her cheek, the blonde idly wondered why the Bajoran woman seemed so familiar.

"She's quite a specimen isn't she?" a voice asked from behind the blonde. Fear gripping her heart, she whirled around and saw Doctor Lore standing behind her smiling.

"Lore... I..."

"It's all right, Annika." Lore replied as his smile deepened. "Human's say that curiosity killed the cat, but that's really not the case here."

Annika stared at the android, wondering if he'd finish his statement. The statement that he might be the one to kill her. Even though the machine seemed sadistic and evil to the core, Annika still envied him. His creator, Doctor Noonien Soong, had died before he could program his emotion chip with love or compassion, which was strange in and of itself to have a doctor without those qualities. Or maybe he didn't forget at all and wanted this living abomination walking around. To live life without full emotion, especially in dark times like these was all she really wanted right now, because the ones that cared the most were often hurt and used the most.

But that's where her envy died and her revulsion of the "Good Doctor" ended. Inside him was the true nature of what she assumed was in all men. He was a selfish and had a darkness to him that he never tried to hide. To the rest of the crew, Lore was a competent doctor and had the mind and wonder of a small child. But she saw in him the truth. Sure enough he contained the wonder of a child but it was a child who would slit his own mother's throat if she looked or talked to him wrong. Dr. Soong also never programmed Lore with any morals, but that's what the Captain and Commander seemed to like. She knew, at least on the Captain's part that it would be his undoing one day. She found comfort in knowing at least he was the only one of his kind that Soong had managed to create before he was killed.

"I was just leaving." Annika said as she tried to walk past him.

"So soon?" Lore asked, as he stepped in her path. "You've come here for a reason. What was it?"

"I... I heard about the girl." Annika blurted out. "I was curious on how a Bajoran managed to get on our ship. I'll be leaving now."

As she tried to leave again, Lore stopped her in her tracks, his smile leaving his face. It was if her words had angered him somehow. "So you mean you didn't come to see me?" he asked as she took a step back. "You have no idea how much that hurts me. You know how much fun we used to have together."

"I... I have a boyfriend now." Annika told him, as she took another step back. "And our time together was only fun for one of us."

Lore's brow furrowed at her comment and it only took a split second to scan through his data files to understand her insult. Not wanting to explode in an angry rant, he just smiled again. "And what does your little boyfriend have to do with me?"

"Harry..."

"Harry, Harry." Lore mocked as his yellow eyes flickered with anger. "What does little Harry son-of-a-bitch have on me? I am Lore."

Just as quickly as his anger showed, his features softened and he held out his hand. Staring at it, she took it out of fear of retaliation somewhere down the line. With a smile, he held her hand, leaving her to marvel at how his skin could be so hot, yet his heart could be so cold.

Without warning, he started to crush her hand with his much more powerful one. With a yelp, she looked up at him as his face got mere millimeters away from her own.

"Let me tell you something." he said lowly, his hot breath blowing against her cheek, his anger returning full force. "You might be the Captain's little pet, but in here... in this room I am in control. When I tell you to give me something, you give it to me or else. The next time you come in here you remember that because the Captain or even your little boyfriend won't be able to stop my wrath."

"I understand!" Annika cried out, as she tried to pull away, but he kept her firmly in place, even as her hand started to bleed. "Please, let me go."

Giving her a look, Lore did as she asked, before looking down at her hand with concern. "I should treat that." he said as he got his medical tricorder and touched her hand.

As she cried out as he started to treat her hand, Tabrin started to come too on the biobed. As Lore finished treating her, Annika moved away from him and closer to the girl on the table. As the girl came too, she looked up at Annika with glazed over eyes and smiled as she didn't see any Borg implants on her face or skin.

"Seven...?" Tabrin asked groggily.

"Get out!" Lore growled out as he began to push Annika towards the door. "Tell no one of what you've seen here." Seeing Annika walk out of the room, satisfied that she wouldn't talk, Lore hit a button on the console he was standing next to. "Commander Janeway, you're needed to Sickbay." Lore said as Tabrin looked over at him with wide eyes.

After a few minutes, Commander Janeway walked into the room and eyed Tabrin with a toothy smile.

"Where am I?" Tabrin asked as she began to struggle against her bonds. "Why am I strapped down?"

"We'll discuss that at a later time." the Commander said as her smile deepened. "So you're from a mirror universe?" Janeway questioned as she walked to the biobed that Tabrin was being strapped down too. "And according to these stardates you're quite a bit ahead of time then we are. Today is stardate 48693.2. How many years are you ahead of us exactly?"

Deciding that she didn't have any other choice but to play ball, Tabrin went along with at least that line of questioning. "I'm almost nineteen years ahead of you."

"Hmmm, that's very interesting." Janeway said as she began to calculate on how to exploit this somehow. "The doctor has examined you and we know that Benjamin Sisko is your father. What I want to know is who is your mother?"

"I don't know." Tabrin lied. During some of her studies with Julian she remembered that he told her that Bajorans weren't thought of highly by humans in the mirror universe because they helped to enslave human kind. It was already enough that she was half Bajoran but she didn't know what her mother might have been in this dimension so she decided to lie. Quickly thinking over what to say, she decided to tweak the story that Seska had given them all those years ago, hoping against hope that her uncle didn't give any clues to who her mother was in his notes on the padd Janeway was holding. "I don't know who my mother is. During the Occupation of Bajor by the Cardassians I was abandoned as a child and given to people who I grew up believing were my parents. After the Cardassians killed the man that raised me, I was told that when I was a baby a man came to the Dahkur Province dressed in a cloak and gave me away, leaving behind a Starfleet combadge. When I was older and taken to a Cardassian enslavement camp, the doctor's examined me and I found out I was half human. When the occupation ended, I joined Starfleet and started looking for my father."

"What a sad, sad, story." Janeway cooed with mock concern. "The Dahkur Province... hmm wouldn't it be interesting if the Intendent were related to you?" As she said that Lore pulled Janeway to the side and started talking, leaving Tabrin to idly wonder if they were buying her story. Throwing her occasional glances, Lore suddenly approached her.

"I've been studying your body and you have dormant Borg nanoprobes floating around in your bloodstream." Lore started. "Care to explain?"

"It... it was during a botched assimilation." Tabrin lied. Truth be told when Dr. Bashir had transferred her over to Seven's body as a baby, her sister's Borg nanoprobes tried to assimilate her after a few weeks in her womb. After several treatments of a medication that Julian had come up with, they had managed to stop the assimilation process but it left dormant nanoprobes in her bloodstream. Julian never officially found out why the nanoprobes laid dormant but he speculated that they were somehow involved with her having a very high immune system, since he'd never had to treat her for any kind of illness or disease, so he decided to leave them in her. "We encountered some Borg drones in my dimension that were sick and the ... process didn't go well."

"I understand." Janeway replied as she and Lore shared a look. "Can you tell me what this is?" she asked as she held up the mobile emitter. "I've had it scanned and I know it's not a weapon, but the people in the engineering department can't make heads or tails of it."

"It's to keep my nanoprobes dormant." Tabrin lied coolly. "I have to wear it to stay regulated. My doctor came up with it as a treatment so the nanoprobes wouldn't reactivate and turn me into a drone."

"It's possible, Commander." Lore told his superior officer.

"Hmm, well we wouldn't want that happening now do we?" Janeway said as she slapped the emitter on the sleeve of Tabrin's uniform. "Thank you for being so honest with me. After the... big event with the Captain, I think that we should talk more. I want to know all about your universe. Heavily sedate her and throw her into the brig." she said as she turned to Lore and then whispered into his ear conspiratorially. "And when I'm done with her and the Captain, you're welcome to conduct as many... experiments as you want on her."

"Yes, Commander." Lore replied with a smile so hard it threatened to break his bio-plastic skin. Quickly fixing up a hypospray, he injected it's contents into Tabrin's unwilling neck.

Seeing her on the verge of passing out, Janeway smiled and turned on her heel and stopped as she got to the exit door. Through drowsy eyes, Tabrin then heard the older woman say over her shoulder.

"Welcome to the ISS Warship Hades." Janeway said with a smile in her voice, answering one of the girls earlier questions. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

ISS Warship Hades

Bridge

The ex slave and pirate of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, Benjamin Sisko sat in the command chair of his newly christened ship, the ISS Warship Hades. After meeting some people from the mirror universe a year and a half ago and being sent to the Delta Quadrant, he had taken the ship designs from his mirror opposites and had expanded on them. He had taken a design for a ship called the USS Voyager. It now had a triple-armored hull, 30 torpedo tubes, 25 phaser banks, and was now newly equipped with assault probes and fighter-shuttles.

Since he and his crew were sent to the Delta Quadrant and away from Alliance rule by the Caretaker they were free to use those designs. The only thing was they didn't have the means to create the ship. That was until he had made a deal with neighboring alien species in the sector of space they were in. Taking a few Ocampan people from their planet, they led them to a warrior race called the Kazon.

Seeing that they could be easily manipulated, Ben had negotiated a bartering system with them. In exchange for helping them create his warship in their orbital space dock, he had given them replicator and transporter technology. It had taken a year and countless Ocampan and Kazon slaves but the ship was finally completed. As he explained to them in detail what had happened to his people and that he wanted to use the Caretaker's array to send them back to the Alpha Quadrant, the Kazons had wanted to join in on his fight, if only so they could gain better territories. With a new ally in hand they were now on a pursuit course back to the Array with sixty five ships and more joining them everyday, so that they could take it over and go back to the Alpha Quadrant and take it from the Alliance.

They were now known as the Terran-Kazon Alliance. But every organization needed structure and order, so he introduced the Kazons to the old Terran Empire's Starfleet guidelines and principles. All of them now wore a standard Starfleet uniform with no combadges, black gloves, and no rank pips. He also made it mandatory to carry around phasers.

"Mr Marsh, how far are we from the Caretaker's Array?" Ben asked of a young Ensign that was at the Helm.

"At current speed, it'll take us three days to get there sir." Ensign Marsh replied.

"Miss Daws, what's the status of the ship?" Ben then asked of a pretty young black woman that was standing at OPS.

Miss Daws' father and her had crash landed on Bajor when she was a child and had taken the fight directly to the Bajorans, because they had killed his wife a year before. They were on the planet for nearly two months and Andrea had taken a young Bajoran girl as a friend, of whom her father had tried to kill. Andrea had been beaten by her father because she stood up to him, for her friend and had left her back scarred. Her father was later killed and she was taken into a Cardassian prison camp.

When she was liberated from the camp and he had found out her story, he knew that he wanted her to be apart of his crew. He was also surprised by her that she still kept her scars, saying that it was in memory of all that she had lost and the friend that she knew she'd never see again. Someone with that much integrity, Ben knew that he needed them on his team, especially in the dark times that lay ahead. If anything happened, he felt that at least he could count on her and Ensign Marsh to support him.

Before she could give her report, Commander Janeway walked onto the Bridge and took her seat beside him. Eyeing the woman wearily, he asked her for a report instead.

"What was the problem in the Transporter room earlier?" the Captain asked as Janeway crossed her legs and started to read Tabrin's padd.

"Oh... it was just a glitch in one of the EPS manifolds." Janeway replied with fake warmness in her voice as she gave Ben a sideways glance. "Those damn Ocampans couldn't even get that right. Don't worry I've gotten the problem corrected." she replied, never taking her eyes off of her padd.

Through narrowed eyes Ben looked at his First Officer. Before they left the Alpha Quadrant she was a natural choice to become his XO because of her leadership ability. But over the last few months he'd noticed a dark change in her. Something that seemed almost sinister.

"So what are you reading?" he asked as he cleared his throat and gave her another look.

"Just tomorrow's duty roster." she lied as she looked up at him with a wolf like smile. "What's wrong, don't you trust me?"

Before he could answer, Lt. Commander Chakotay walked into the room. His tattoo was larger, covering the entire left side of his face and he also had a Caesar style haircut.

"Miss Daws, Mr. Marsh... I need both of you to report to the brig." Chakotay said as he looked towards the both of them. "One of our fellow Kazon officers has been acting up and I need both of you to stand guard. I'll be down there to relieve you both in a moment."

"But... sir we're not apart of your security detail." Andrea complained.

"Do not question your superior officer!" Ben barked. "Go to the brig now!"

"Yes sir!" Andrea and Justin snapped out at the same time as they quickly left their posts and walked into the turbolift.

"Hmmm, I see some people still need to be disciplined." Chakotay observed as the turbolift doors closed behind Andrea and Justin. 'Maybe an hour in the agony booth will do both of them some good.' he thought to himself.

"I'm sure you have something in mind." Ben replied as his Chief of security handed him a padd. "Get Annika to handle this." he said as he read the padd's contents. "I think she's down in Engineering."

"What's that?" Janeway asked as she eyed both men with troubled eyes.

"Just a list of repairs I need her to help her little boyfriend with." Chakotay answered. "Don't worry Kathryn, we're all on the same side here." he went on as he gave her a wink. With a smile she nodded her head as he turned and walked out of the room.

Engineering

"So you're telling me that Dr. Lore has a Bajoran woman under lock and key in Sickbay?" Lieutenant Harry Kim asked of his girlfriend with a sneer, even as he ran a gloved hand through his shoulder length hair. When he was a slave in the Alpha Quadrant his parents were killed in front of him by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance when he was a child, while they lived on Cestus III. He'd hated Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans ever since. Every time he saw a member of their species, he couldn't control himself and wanted to kill them on sight.

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying." Annika replied as she leaned against a console. "There was something about her that seemed so familiar."

"Maybe you knew her in another life." Harry tried to joke as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. He wanted so badly to go to Sickbay right now to deal with the Bajoran female, but he knew that Lore or Janeway would have his head, if he did. Putting an uneasy smile on his face, he looked into his girlfriends eyes. "I know what'll make you feel better."

With a smile, Annika and Harry started to make out in the deserted Engineering section. Hearing someone clear their throat, they stopped their lip lock and turned to see Chakotay standing behind them.

"Commander..." Harry greeted as he wiped his girlfriend's red lipstick off of his mouth.

"I see you two are burning the midnight oil." Chakotay said with a wide smile. "The captain read your report and wants you to handle this... new situation as you see fit."

"Me...?" Annika asked with wide eyes. Ever since Ben had liberated her from a Bajoran labor camp, the two had become close. He didn't try to take advantage of her like other men had and for all rights and purposes he was almost like a father to her.

"Yes you." Chakotay replied, breaking her train of thought. "We will proceed with our plan when you give the signal. Now... as you were." he said as he walked out of the room.

"You heard the man." Harry said with a smile as he pulled his girlfriend closer, only for her to push away from him. "Babe what's wrong?"

"It's just... are we sure about this mutiny?" Annika asked, as she ran a nervous hand through her hair. "And I don't understand why the Captain would..."

"Hey we have to choose sides here." Harry said as he cut her off. "And if Chakotay thinks that this is a good idea then we should follow him."

"I still don't know..."

"You gotta stop worrying about this." Harry said, cutting her off again. "We knew what we were getting into when we decided to join this crew. We have to play the hand we were dealt."

The Brig

Her sedative wearing off Tabrin awoke in a dark dank cell. With the little light that was being provided, she took the mobile emitter off of her arm and started to examine it. As she started to tap at some of the buttons on the side of it, to see if she could use it's power source to disrupt her cell's force field, she suddenly saw a flash of light beside her.

"Well you're in a bit of a pickle aren't you?" a familiar voice asked from beside her.

Turning Tabrin rolled her eyes at who she saw. "Q!" she shouted as the Godlike being smiled at her. "Are you responsible for me being here?"

"Moi?" Q asked as he placed his hand over his heart, as if her words really hurt him. "Why is it every time I show up, people always assume I'm responsible for mischief?"

"Because you usually are responsible." Tabrin replied as she thought back to all the trouble Q had brought their way over the years.

"I'm hurt that you would think that of me. I really am." Q said as he stood to his feet. "If it wasn't for Julian's miscalculation you wouldn't be here in the first place. And here I was about to send you to your poor mommy and daddy."

"So... so you really aren't responsible for sending me to this universe?"

"No, I'm not." Q replied as he began to pout. "And to think, I saved your aunt and her people."

"Aunt Jadzia...?" Tabrin asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What happened to..."

"Let's just say some very bad people wanted her to be destroyed." Q said as he cut her off. "So I threw her little ship and escape pods about three hundred light years away from where it was."

"Why are you doing this, Q?" Tabrin asked. "Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?"

"I have certain obligations to fulfill." he replied as he met her gaze. "And until I'm satisfied that your attitude has changed, I'm going to leave you here." with that he flashed away.

"Wait, Q!" Tabrin shouted out. "Damn." she muttered, under her breath. Seeing that she might have to get out of this mess on her own, she picked up the mobile emitter and started working on it again. Seeing that there was a familiar power fluctuation on it's hologram buffer, she touched it's activation sequence button.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." the bald headed Doctor from the Ares stated as he shimmered into existence.

"Doc...?" Tabrin asked in shock.

"Hazel?" the Doctor replied as he turned to look at her. "What's going on here? One minute I'm assisting Doctor Bashir in Sickbay and then he slaps my mobile emitter on my arm and deactivates me. Then I'm here... where ever here is. What's going on?"

At a loss for words Tabrin hugged the bald headed hologram and began to babble into his holographic shoulder.

"Maybe, I can help." the Doctor said as he started to pace around. "That's assuming we can get out of here."

"What can you do?" Tabrin asked as she sat down on her cot and looked up at him.

"You said that the doctor of this ship is an android, correct?" he asked, as he stopped pacing and looked at her nodded reply. "Several years ago, I managed to go inside of Seven's body and control her. If you can put my mobile emitter on him, I should be able to do the same to him."

"Did you hear that?" Tabrin asked as she jumped to her feet. "That sounds like footsteps."

"I have to deactivate myself." the Doctor said as he turned to his shipmate. "Remember what I said. Place the emitter on that android and press the activation sequence. I'll do the rest."

As he said that, he deactivated himself just as Andrea and Justin walked up to her cell.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Andrea asked as Tabrin slapped the mobile emitter back on her arm.

"Looks like a lost little Bajoran girl to me." Justin replied with a dark smile. "I wonder if this is the reason why Commander Chakotay wanted us to come down here? Because there wasn't a Kazon officer in the Brig like he said."

"What are you guys thinking about doing to me?" Tabrin asked nervously. She didn't like the evil glint that seemed to sparkle in the young officers eyes.

"The same thing you monsters did to Earth." Justin replied with a snarl. "And the same thing your people did to my parents."

Justin had come from a long line of pilots that had dated back to World War 2. In keeping with a tradition every first born male of his family had become a pilot, all the way up until the Bajorans and Klingons took control over Earth and turned it into a slave planet. His parents and him tried to escape in a runabout, but their vessel was trackered in by a Bajoran warship and his parents were executed in front of him by a young woman who would later become the Intendent of the Bajoran sector, Kira Nerys.

With those thoughts jumbling around in his mind, he lowered the force field, intent on doing Tabrin harm, until Andrea put a shaky hand on his shoulder.

"Wait... I... I know you." Andrea said as she looked deep into Tabrin's hazel eyes. Eyes that she knew she'd seen before. "You're that Bajoran girl I saved on Bajor. Your name is Tabrin isn't it...?"

"Yeah, but... look you guys have to let me out of here." Tabrin said as she changed what she was going to say. "I have to go to the Bridge and tell the captain that some people on this ship are going to try to kill him."

"Oh." Chakotay said with a smile, as he walked up behind Andrea and Justin. "Do tell."

A/N Please review...


	41. Chapter 39 Dirty Mirror pt 2

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys. I know some people are wondering where certain members of the crew are in this mirror universe. For those who didn't watch the show or read some of the books, Mirror Odo was killed in the AQ, Tuvok is still in the AQ, Tom is oddly enough B'Elanna's sex slave in the AQ, and Chief O'Brien is the leader of the resistance in the AQ and Julian and Dax are with him.

Chapter 39

Dirty Mirror pt. 2

The Celestial Temple

"Don't worry, your little Emmisary is well protected." Q was saying as he paced inside the white lighted world of the Celestial Temple. "I just didn't like her little snippy attitude."

Hearing something only he could hear, Q let out a sigh. "She has to learn a lesson. Isn't that why you have me guiding her?" he asked with a roll of his eyes. Hearing faint whispers again, Q angrily flashed out of the dimension.

ISS Hades

Brig

"Cha...Chakotay?" Tabrin asked as she took a step back in her cell.

"You know me, Bajoran?" Chakotay asked through narrowed eyes. Seeing that she was probably too scared to answer, he put a warm smile on his face. That always seemed to work with the ladies. "Look, I was told that a Bajoran had materialized on the ship. Just tell me how you got here and about the plot against the captain. Maybe I can help."

"I'll only tell you what I know if you bring Seven here." Tabrin told him after a moment of thinking.

"Seven?" Chakotay asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's nobody here by that name."

"Yes there is." Tabrin replied on the verge of shouting. "She's tall, blonde, almost as pretty as me."

'She must be talking about, Annika.' Chakotay thought to himself. 'But why would she want her here?' As he thought that he took his communicator off of his belt and touched the side of it. "Annika you're needed to the Brig. Come alone."

After a few minutes, Chakotay and the others watched as Annika slowly strode down the corridor leading to the room.

"You wanted to see me, Commander?" Annika asked.

"Yeah, I did." Chakotay said as he pointed into Tabrin's cell. "Your little friend wanted to see you."

When he said that hazel eyes met blue ones. In just a matter of seconds, Annika knew that her earlier assumption was right. There was something about the younger woman that let her know that somehow, some way their lives were intertwined forever. As Annika tried to walk into her cell to talk to her, Chakotay pulled her back and started to whisper into her ear. Nodding that she understood, Annika walked into the cell and sat down on Tabrin's bunk, as Chakotay, Justin, and Andrea walked away. Seeing that the young woman was happy and wanted to spout out a million things, she put up her hand to calm her down.

"Before we get started, I want to know something." Annika started. "Who are you?"

"My name is, Tabrin." Tabrin started as she took Annika's hand into her own. "I'm your sister."

With wide eyes, Annika sat back and listened intently as Tabrin told her of another universe. A universe where she was known as Lt. Commander Seven Sisko of the USS Ares. A universe where she was valued and not used and abused by men. A universe where she was a daughter and a big sister that loved and cared for her and was loved by the crew. Biting down the urge to ask her more about the dimension Annika instead told her how horrible things were in her universe, about the Bajoran prison camps, and what Captain Sisko had planned to do.

"Is it possible for me to talk to my da... the Captain?" Tabrin asked. "I have to tell him that his plan isn't going to work."

"We're keeping you here for your protection." Annika told her. "The Captain hates Bajorans."

"But... but, he's my father..." Tabrin said through quivering lips.

"Maybe in another time and universe you are." Annika told her honestly. "But here you are the enemy. You can tell me what you wanted to tell him. I promise that I'll relay the message."

Not knowing if she could trust her... no not her sister but Annika, Tabrin knew that she had no other choice but to tell the truth. "Tell Captain Sisko that his plan to take over the Caretaker's array won't work. Even if the Caretaker is alive in your dimension you still need his active DNA and possibly a special code to be able to send you back home." she started. "So even if you managed to take over the array and killed him..."

"It's a she." Annika interrupted. "The Caretaker is a she in our dimension."

'She's still correcting me no matter what universe we're in.' Tabrin thought to herself with a smile. "And even if you managed to take over the array and killed her you wouldn't be able to go home. I mean think about it, even if you did try to convince the Caretaker to take you home, who says she won't betray you and just transport you into the sun."

"That's the same logic we... some people tried to get the Captain to see." Annika told her with a sigh.

"Is that why Commander Janeway is trying to start a mutiny?" Tabrin asked in worry of her father... or rather this dimension's version of her fathers' safety. "You're... you're not in on that are you?" she stuttered, searching her sister's eyes.

"We must all play our parts." Annika replied as she stood to her feet and started to pace around the small cell. "I am not this... Seven that you keep talking about. I'm... I'm whatever the men on this ship want me to be."

"My sister is the smartest, strongest, bravest woman I've ever known." Tabrin countered as she stood to her feet and walked towards a woman who was a stranger with her sister's face. "I modeled my life after her but I can still never compare to what she is. You just sat here and told me that my... our... Captain Sisko saved you. Even in this dimension he managed to find you and find a small place for you in his heart. He's like a father to you even in this universe. You can't do this to him... to yourself. I can look in your eyes now and tell that there is a spark of what my sister was burning in your eyes." Tabrin stopped as she reached up and touched Annika's face. Not being used to someone being so gentle and truly believing in her, Annika flinched away from her touch.

"I'm sorry." the blond said lowly as she dipped out of the cell and reactivated the force field. Finding Chakotay, she started to whisper into his ear, making him smile from ear to ear. With a nod of his head, she walked out of the room.

"Thank you for that information Bajoran." Chakotay said with a smile as he walked to the cell and smiled at her. "I'll make sure to put it to good use."

"Chakotay don't do this!" Tabrin cried as she slapped at the cells force field. "When I was a little girl my sister told me that you were a good, honorable man."

"Another universe... another Chakotay." he replied never losing his smile. "In this life you kill or you die. We have to be ruthless to crush our enemies. Even if that enemy has the face of a friend."

"What would your father think of you?" Tabrin blurted out. As she said that, she noticed a change in Chakotay's eyes. It lasted for only a second but it was there. "My sister told me that he was an honorable, peaceful man that came from a peaceful people and that he loved you. Why would you betray his memory like that?"

"I...I have to report this." Chakotay responded as he looked away and down to the ground. After a few seconds he looked to Andrea and Justin who were standing about fifteen feet away. "Stay here and watch her. "

"Chakotay! Chakotay!" Tabrin yelled as he walked out of the brig.

Commander Janeway's Quarters

"And that's the information she gave you?" Janeway asked as she sat cross-legged on her red couch and watched intently as Chakotay paced around her living room.

"Yes ma'am." Chakotay replied as he stopped pacing and looked back to her. What Tabrin had said to him touched a part of his soul. The ony part of his soul that was left. Even in this universe his father was a peaceful man but the Alliance didn't care and killed him anyway. "Maybe we don't have to kill the Captain then. We could just tell him what she said and..."

"Of course he's going to die." Janeway replied, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Sisko is a hell of a tactician, I'll give him that, but let's face it even if we did tell him what we know about the Caretaker he's still a fool that'll get us all killed one day." she told him as she looked deep into his eyes. She saw that he was being tormented by something but she couldn't tell what. "I'm the one that should be in charge and I need a man by my side that is loyal and that I can trust. I thought that was you?"

"It is. I'm still by your side, Kathryn." Chakotay replied in shock, that she didn't believe in him. "I just think..."

"If you're by my side then there is nothing else to talk about." Janeway interjected. "Sisko will die, I will take his place and you will remain at my side as the new Commander of this ship."

"I... I understand."

"Good." Janeway replied, her wolfish grin returning to her face. "I knew that I was right about the Caretaker all along. That bitch probably would rather throw us into the sun than transport us home. That's why I want to settle down on a nice planet here and start a new empire away from those damn Cardassians, Klingons and especially the Bajorans. And I plan on using these new improvements that little miss wrinkled nose brought to this dimension, to do just that." she said as she made a show of showing off Tabrin's data padd. "Has Annika found out whose on Sisko's side?"

"Yes ma'am." Chakotay replied, his heart still in turmoil.

"Good, once the Captain is taken care of we'll quickly execute them." she said as she started to adjust her gloves. "I'm done with that damn Bajoran girl. Tell... tell Doctor Lore to have fun. Dismissed."

The Brig

Walking with a form of pep in his step, Doctor Lore strode into the Brig with his medical bag in hand. Seeing Andrea and Justin standing by a cell, he walked over to them and nodded.

"Both of you are relieved of your duties." Lore said as he looked between them.

"But.. but Chakotay told us..."

"Let me put this another way." Lore replied, cutting Justin off as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Get the hell out of here."

"Y.. yes Doctor." Andrea replied nervously, nudging Justin on the arm as they both ran off.

With a smile, Lore watched them go. "I still got it." he mumbled as he looked into Tabrin's cell and saw her sleeping. With quick fingers he deactivated the force field. "Wakey, wakey, Tabbie." he chided as she slowly started to wake up.

"Wha..."

"The Commander has given me permission to conduct experiments on you." Lore told her his excitement evident in his voice, as she stood up from her bunk. "I think I'll start with those nanoprobes."

"Over my dead body!" Tabrin shouted as she spat in his face.

"So be it." Lore replied as he dropped his bag and lifted her off her feet with one hand and started to strangle her. "I actually don't need you alive for my experiments. What's that, you disagree?" he asked as she started to gag and gasp for air.

Quickly beginning to lose consciousness, Tabrin tried to take the mobile emitter off of her arm but to no avail. She was losing strength and with her eyesight going out, she managed to look up and see Annika standing behind Lore.

"No!" Annika screamed as she hit Lore with a metal power junction rod on the side of the head, with all the strength she could muster.

Barely being fazed by the hit, Lore turned around and smiled as he regarded her. "Mmmm, a three way. How interesting." Dropping Tabrin, who sputtered and gasped for much needed air in her burning lungs, Lore smacked Annika hard about her face, knocking her the length of the room. "I thought I told you to mind your business?" he asked as he slowly started to walk towards his new target.

Finally reaching her, he bent down, grabbing her around the neck. Before he could try to squeeze the life out of her, Tabrin slapped the active mobile emitter on him, making him scream as some of his positronic subroutines started to overload and he dropped Annika before falling, as stiff as a board, to the cold floor.

"Are you all right?" Tabrin asked as she helped Annika stand to her feet.

"What did you do to him?" Annika asked as she rubbed her neck, not taking her eyes off of the monstrosity that had just tried to kill her.

"Hopefully I..." Tabrin was cut off however as Lore sat up and looked at both of them. "Doc...?"

"It's me, Hazel." the Doctor replied as he stood to his feet. "I am... I am in complete control of this android." he said as he looked down at his hands.

"What's going on here?" Annika asked as she looked between them.

"I'll explain later." Tabrin told her as she gave the older woman a look. "Why did you come back for me?"

"It's... It's because of what you said." Annika replied as she stared into her eyes. "Do you really believe in me?"

"Well I do now." Tabrin replied with a smile. "Now come on we have to save dad."

"It's probably too late." Annika warned. "The mutiny has already started."

"Where are they?" Tabrin asked, hoping it wasn't too late to save her dad.

"They should still be on the Bridge." Annika reasoned.

"Come on, let's go then!" Tabrin shouted as the three of them ran out of the room.

The Bridge

Sisko could feel a new tension in the air as his Commander sat down beside him. As a matter of fact his whole crew seemed to be on edge about something. He wanted to believe it was about engaging the Caretaker soon but something in the pit of his stomach told him differently.

"What's wrong, Benjamin?" Janeway cooed, as if she were speaking to a child. "You seem.. nervous."

Before he could answer Chakotay, Harry, and a few members of the MACO team came onto the Bridge carrying phaser rifles.

"Captain!" Justin shouted from the Helm. As he fumbled with his weapon, Harry turned around and shot him, sending him over the conn, where he fell unconscious. Before Andrea could move, Harry turned and shot her too.

Ben reached for his weapon but Janeway placed her phaser behind his head and took his off him. "I wouldn't try anything else like that Captain."

"I should have known you'd betray me one day." Ben commented as he and Janeway stood to their feet. "But I have to say, I'm actually surprised by you, Mr. Chakotay. I expected better."

"Sir... I..."

"Take Sisko, Daws, and Marsh to Cargo Bay One." Janeway told Chakotay him cutting off. "I'll be down to personally execute them myself. Harry, please take the Conn."

With a pleased smile and a flip of his hair, Harry did as he was told and took the Helm. Smiling herself Janeway took her place in the Captain's chair and looked up at Chakotay who remained unmoving.

"That was an order, Commander!" Janeway snapped. "Take them to Cargo Bay One."

"No. Kathryn this is wrong." Chakotay told her.

"You weak minded fool." she replied as her MACO team moved behind Sisko and her Commander. "Take all of them to the Cargo Bay. Harry I guess you're getting a promotion today."

As the MACO team started to move them towards the turbolift, Chakotay turned around and punched one of them in the stomach. Taking his cue, Ben turned to help him and as they started to struggled the turbolift doors opened and Janeway saw Lore and Annika step off of it.

"Doctor, stop Chakotay!" Janeway yelled out to the android. Quickly taking in the situation, the Doctor grabbed both of the MACO team members that had piled themselves on top of Commander Chakotay and threw them to opposite sides of the room, where they hit their heads and were knocked unconscious. "What the hell are you doing!"

Lifting up his phaser to help, Harry was startled when he saw his girlfriend standing in front of him with her phaser drawn.

"Annika what are you doing?" Harry asked in confusion, as the Doctor used his new found strength and speed to tear into the MACO team, as Ben ran over and tackled Janeway to the floor. "Move so I can help them."

"Harry no." Annika told him with shaky hands. "This is over."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked through narrowed eyes. "Captain Sisko is wrong, we have to..." he stopped talking as he saw Tabrin step off of the turbolift. With rage filling his eyes, he ran forward in an attempt to immediately kill her, until Annika shot him in the back with her phaser, a smoking hole going through his uniform as he fell to the floor bonelessly.

"Annika!" Tabrin yelled as she ran over to her and looked down at the floor to Harry. "Is he..."She began faintly, trailing off as she looked into the older woman's eyes and got her answer.

"It seems that your little mutiny was put down fast." Ben replied as he pushed Janeway to her knees down to the floor. Looking around he saw that Lore and Chakotay had subdued all of Janeway's co-conspirators. But then his eyes fell upon someone that didn't belong on his ship. "Who are you?" he asked as he looked to Tabrin.

"There's no time to explain." Q's voice sounded as he flashed into the room and looked from Ben to Tabrin. "I'm here to take little Miss fussy boots home."

"Who are... what the hell is going on!" Ben roared.

"Does he have to be this angry in every universe?" Q asked more to himself, even as he looked to Tabrin. Using his power, he froze the entire ship, except himself, Tabrin and the Doctor.

"Q, please take me home." Tabrin told him, deciding to play nice this time around.

"Well I see that you learned your lesson." Q replied as he folded his arms over his chest. "But Dorothy you always had the power to go home. All you had to do was click your heels together three times and say there's no place like home."

"Q!" Tabrin shouted in irritation.

"Fine." Q replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Come on Doc." Tabrin said over to the android. "Let's go home."

"I.. I would come out of this shell but my program is fused to it." The Doctor told her. "Besides I... I've been going through this android's memory files and I think that it's best that I stay behind."

"Doc... what... what are you talking about?" Tabrin asked.

"What I'm talking about is this android has done nothing but cause harm to these people." The Doctor explained. "The least I can do is stay behind and fix that. Don't worry, I'll look after your father and tell him what the real Starfleet is about. Give my mobile emitter to my counterpart." he said as he took it off his arm and handed it to her. "She's going to need it more then I will."

Giving the Doctor a hug, Tabrin ran over to get her data padd and as she did she looked up to the frozen mirror version of his sister. "I don't know if you can hear me, but you're not just some piece of meat for a man to use." she said with a smile. "You're a Sisko. Take care of dad and tell him he looks better with a bald head and goatee. All right Q, I'm ready to go."

"Finally." Q replied with a roll of his eyes. He hated family moments. With a wave of his hand, he and Tabrin disappeared and the crew returned to normal.

"Captain, I believe we need to have a talk." the Doctor replied as Sisko looked over at him.

"Later Doctor. I'm not even going to pretend that I know what just happened." Ben mumbled as he looked down at Janeway and smiled. "But I do know that somebody has a date with the airlock. Get this piece of garbage off my bridge." he said as a few Kazons walked onto the Bridge and took Janeway, who started to struggle in their grasp, and the MACO team away.

Seeing Annika staring down at Harry, Chakotay slowly walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend." he told her honestly. "I know we're living in dark times but I know love will come for you again."

As he said that Annika looked up into his eyes and it was like it was the first time she'd ever seen him before. Despite everything she'd never noticed how handsome he was before.

* * *

The Ares

Observation Lounge

"And that's when I materialized in the Transporter room." Tabrin said finishing up her story.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Ben asked as he sat back in his chair.

"Honestly, I was hoping to forget it all." she replied as she looked him in the eye. "So you see dad, you can't go down that dark route. If you do, we might end up just like those people."

"You don't have to worry." Ben replied as he stood to his feet and started to look out into the black. "The both of you are right, no matter what happens out here I will stick to Starfleet guidelines and we will make it home."

Joining him at the view port Tabrin, Seven, and Ben stared out at the blackness of space, all of them wondering what adventure they'd go on next time.


	42. Chapter 40 The Ties That Bind

Chapter 40

The Ties That Bind

The Ares

Ready Room

"I called this meeting just... just to see how everyone is doing." Ben said as he looked around to Kira, O'Brien Tabrin, Erin, Kes, his assembled Bridge crew and Neelix who was walking around pouring people a cup of Raktajino. "Old man?"

"I never expected this planet to be so beautiful." Dax responded with a raised eyebrow. "Odo and I have been exploring it for days."

"Constable?" Ben asked as he looked over at his Tactical officer.

"Whatever she said." Odo replied as he looked out of the window.

"Odo, do you really have to be so sarcastic about everything?" Sisko asked seriously, making Odo look at him in surprise.

"If I'm not sarcastic then who would I be?" Odo replied, making the room laugh at him.

"B'Elanna?" Ben asked as he stopped chuckling.

"One of the Equinox members is an old boyfriend of mine and we've... been spending time with each other." she said as she made it a point to look over at Tom. It was a look that Ben took notice of.

"I've been exploring this planet as well." Chakotay spoke up, knowing that it was his turn. "I've particularly been studying an ancient cave network on this planet. It's really something you should see before we leave."

"I'll take a look at it later." Ben said before he looked over at his pilot. "Tom?"

"Well I haven't been going out on any dates." Tom said with a smile as he looked to B'Elanna. "But I have been going out to restaurants and well... just enjoying this planet and it's culture."

"I see." Ben replied with a grin of his own. "Doctor, what have you been up too since you're not confined to the ship?"

"You'll be happy to know that I've updated my program to include tons of medical treatments that I've learned from the Vidiians." Erin replied happily. "Now I can be even more efficient to the crew."

"Doctor it's not that I mind you learning new techniques." Ben started. "But shore leave is also about enjoying yourself. Maybe you should take up singing or dancing." he suggested. He was careful not to say that his wife Jennifer was a good singer and a hell of a dancer, out of fear of insulting Kira.

"Hmmm... singing." Erin said with a raised eyebrow. "I do have a nice voice."

"After making sure that the Vidiians weren't stealing our technology while the ship is being repaired, I took a stroll around the planet." O'Brien spoke up. "It's so strange that I found a small town that almost resembles where I grew up at in Ireland."

"Tabrin?" Ben said as he looked to his youngest daughter.

"I finally got my office together." she replied happily as she looked around the room. "I've already taken clients from the Equinox and when any of you want to talk about your problems... which I'm sure you have a lot of, I'm available. I also met a couple of friends and we've been exploring the planet."

"That's good to hear." her father told her as he skipped over Kira, of whom he spent the last few days with, and looked to Kes and Neelix. "How about you two?"

"Kes and I cooked for several members of the Vidiian Royal Guard." Neelix said happily as Ben eyes shot up in worry.

"Neelix, no." Kira play whined as she looked out of the viewport. "I don't see any Vidiian warships coming. Do you think we should put the ship on red alert?"

"Ha ha ha." Neelix replied dryly, even though he slightly chuckled himself. "I'll have you know Major but I fixed a meal from the Captain's personal recipe book. The Royal Guard loved it."

"I'm just glad you followed the recipe." Ben replied as he gave the alien chef a look. "You did didn't you?"

"Oh, of course Captain." Neelix replied.

"Good. I've also put in a special commendation into your personal file, Mr. Neelix." Ben told him. "Ensign Daws informed me that you saved her life and you were willing to give up yours in the defense of her and the ship. That says a lot about you, Mr. Neelix. Good job."

"Ummm... thank you sir." the Talaxian replied with a toothy grin. "I'm just glad that I could help."

"Seven, what have you been doing?"

"I have been monitoring the progress of the Vidiians automatic drydock." Seven told her father. "By my calculations it will be done repairing the ship and doing the upgrades to the Ares and the Equinox by tomorrow morning."

"Seven you're the smartest person in this room." Sisko said as he stood to his feet and tugged at his uniform. "How could you not know what take time off means?" he said as he stopped to look around the room. "Look people, we all agreed that we can't stay here any longer. Every moment that we sit here Dukat is gaining more ground and taking over more territories around this sector. It's only a matter of time before he gets cocky enough to try to engage the Vidiians and try to take over this planet and get rid of us. Before that happens I want to be ready. I want all of you to enjoy today and live it like it's your last, because honestly it might be, because tomorrow we are leaving Vidiia Prime and we possibly might enter into war. Tom, B'Elanna I'd like the both of you to stay here with me. Everyone else is dismissed."

"Seven can I talk to you for a second?" Chakotay asked as he caught up to her in the corridor, as the others walked out of sight. "If you didn't have anything planned, I wanted to know if you'd like to go explore the Vidiian caves with me?"

"I do not have anything planned and..." Seven stopped as she raised an eyebrow. "... exploring those caves you spoke of sounds interesting."

"Good." Chakotay said with a smile. "Meet me in Transporter room one in a few minutes. I'll bring everything we need."

* * *

"This is a very dangerous mission son." Ben was telling Tom as he put both hands on either of his shoulders. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes sir." Tom answered. There was no way he would let Ben down on this survey mission.

"All right then." Ben replied with a smile, seeing the steel determination in the younger man's eyes. "Take the Defiant and you have free use of the cloaking device. B'Elanna I want you to go with him. Tom will be in charge and I want you to follow his orders as you would with me. And please try to keep each other out of trouble. "

"I understand sir." B'Elanna replied as she nudged Tom on the arm. "Come on flyboy, let's do this."

"Happy hunting." Ben mumbled as both of his officers walked away.

Vidiia Prime

Sataya's Village

"And then the great King Typhre said to the evil Quigley Morph, 'maybe you can turn into a mountain, or all the big things on my planet but I bet you can't turn into something small, like a Salesian grape.' " Sataya was telling Odo and Dax as they all sat under a tree in the center of the village. The little girl didn't know what it was about the older man but he made her feel comfortable and safe. "And so the Quigley Morph said 'Yes I can.' and he did, and do you know what happened?"

"The great King Typhre gobbled him up." Odo finished for her.

"How'd you know that?" Sataya asked in confusion. "I thought you never heard this story before?"

"I haven't." Odo replied. "The changeling in your story just wasn't very smart."

"Could you turn into a Salesian grape?" the little girl asked.

"I suppose I could if I knew how it looked." Odo replied, considering his abilities.

"Show me."

"And let you gobble me up?" the Constable replied with a shake of his head. "Harumph, I don't think so."

"Sataya!" The trio heard her teacher call out to her. "It's time to come back. Your new parents are waiting for you."

"You got adopted?" Dax asked with a wide smile.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you later." Sataya told them as she looked up at Odo. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked as Odo and Dax gave each other a look.

"I'm afraid not."

"You're leaving." Sataya asked with a whine in her voice.

"I'm afraid so." Odo replied sadly.

"I'll miss you." the little girl told him as she threw her arms around him. Caught off guard, Odo smiled down at her before returning the hug.

"I'll miss you, too." Odo said back to her, honestly.

As the little girl started to run off to where her teacher was waiting, Odo suddenly yelled out to her. "Sataya." hearing her name, Sataya turned around and smiled from ear to ear as Odo briefly turned into a spinning top for her.

A smile still on her lips, she ran to her teacher and they walked back into the building. As Odo morphed back into his original form, he found Dax smiling over at him.

"What?" he asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Nothing." Dax replied as she looped an arm through one of his and put her head on his shoulder. Not knowing why, but Odo let her snuggle deeper into his shoulder as they started to walk and look at more of the city.

Vidiian Caves

It was a long trek but finally Chakotay and Seven made it to the entrance of the Vidiian caves. As they got there, they saw two white robed figures standing by the mouth of it.

"These two weren't here before." Chakotay mumbled to his companion as they walked up to them.

"Are you the daughter of the Sisko?" the female Vidiian asked of Seven.

"Yes." Seven simply replied as she gave the woman a look. What were these two playing at?

"Then you two must be here to visit the scrying pools?" the male asked as he looked between the two.

"Scrying pools?" Chakotay asked in confusion. "I don't remember anything like that when I came here a couple of days ago."

"As soon as the Sisko stepped foot on our planet the pools of our planet rejuvenated after centuries of laying dormant." the woman told them. "Seven you must come with us to see them."

"How did you know my name?" Seven asked through narrowed eyes. Something just wasn't right here. 'Are these the religious zealots that Zeroth told us about?' she thought to herself.

"Because you are one of the daughters of the Sisko." the male answered.

Biting down the nervousness in the pit of her stomach and deciding to throw caution to the wind, Seven, followed by Chakotay, walked into the mouth of the cave. After being led into the cave it only took a few minutes for them to come up to a series of rock that was half as tall as Seven and collected water in it, like a fountain. Walking over to it, Seven frowned as all she saw was just her own reflection.

"Is this all you wanted us to see?" Seven asked as she turned and saw that the two robed figures were gone.

"I guess they were in a hurry." Chakotay commented as he looked around. "We're actually not that deep into this cave. Come on, I still remember the way out."

"Cha... Chakotay you need to see this." Seven gasped out as she stared down into the pool of water.

"What is it?" he asked as he walked over and looked down into it, only seeing his reflection staring back at him. "Seven ... I..." he trailed off as he saw his image change and he watched as a slightly older version of himself and Seven were gathering up two small children. From what he could tell they were on Earth and Seven didn't have any of her implants. "What is this?" Chakotay asked, more of himself then he did Seven.

As a drop of water landed into the pool and rippled, the image faded leaving Chakotay and Seven to stare at their own reflections. A million thoughts raced through the Commander's mind and as he looked towards Seven to gauge how she might feel about what they had seen, he saw that she was staring at him, leaving him to wonder if fate had somehow decided for her, who her heart really belonged too. For the sake of fate itself and for the possible future it might have shown for them, they looked happy in the illusion that they were just shown.

"May... maybe we should get back." Chakotay suggested, surprising himself even with his slight stutter at how calm he sounded.

"Chakotay... what we saw..."

"Is still irrelevant if that's not the future that we choose." Chakotay said, cutting her off. "I know where my... feelings belong and you have to do the same." he said as he looked at the pool again. "Now come on, I think we should go back. We have to get ready for tomorrow anyway."

The Defiant

"We've just officially left Vidiian space." Tom reported as he tapped at his console. "I'm initiating our cloaking device."

"We're cloaked." B'Elanna announced as she checked her own station. "How many ships do you think Dukat has right now?"

"I don't know." Tom replied as he let out a sigh. "That's what we're here to try to find out. So ummm... how did your last date with mouse go?"

"His name is Max." B'Elanna replied through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. "And it wasn't a weird little date if that's what you're thinking. Why do you care anyway?" she mumbled the last bit out.

"I'm... I'm sorry about saying that to you earlier." Tom replied as a sheepish look appeared on his face. "That wasn't what I meant to..."

"Then what did you mean?" she cut him off, her eyes blazing.

"What I meant was it was going to be awkward for me to go out with two beautiful women after I broke up with Seven." he replied as he met her gaze. "Even if we were just going out as friends."

"Ha, beautiful." B'Elanna grumbled as she leaned back in her chair and looked away from him. "You're no different than that boy Daniel Bryd when I was in grammar school that used to tease me. He used to point at my cranial ridges and call me Miss Turtlehead." She didn't tell him the rest of the story, that she had waited until Daniel had gotten on a gyro swing on which she had disengaged the centrifugal governor, which caused Byrd to spin so fast that he almost flew apart.

At that moment however, she didn't expect Tom to put his warm hand on hers. Her heart pumping a little faster, she managed to look up at him. "I can't imagine what deep rooted issues you might have from going to Federation school. I know Klingons couldn't have been popular." he started as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go. B'Elanna would never admit it but even though the contact was brief she missed his touch. "Besides, have you ever considered that, that boy liked you?"

"Daniel Bryd...?" B'Elanna asked with a scoff.

"B'Elanna there's something important that you need to learn about boys." Tom said cutting her off. "We're stupid and at that age we don't know how to express our emotions so we often times pick on the girls we like."

"So you think Daniel Bryd had a crush on me?" B'Elanna asked. 'I never considered that.' she thought to herself.

"If you were half as beautiful then as you are now, he didn't have much of a choice." as Tom said that, B'Elanna blushed but before she could talk to him about how he felt her console started to beep.

"Long range sensors have picked up a vessel." she reported.

"I got it." Tom replied as he flipped a few switches. "It's Cardassian and I'm putting it onscreen." After a few moments a long brown vessel appeared on the Defiant's main- viewer. "What kind of Cardassian vessel is that?"

"It's not a ship." B'Elanna replied with a smile. "And with the help of Sgt. O'Brien and Seven, we can use it against Dukat and win the war before it starts."

The Ares

Ben's Quarters

Kira rested her head on Ben's chest as they both sat on the couch in his room. Their daughter Tabrin had just left, after they'd shared a meal, and now they just laid back and relaxed, glad to be alone. Gently stroking her hair, he started to lightly whisper in her ear, making her laugh.

"You really want me to move in with you?" Kira asked as she looked up at him.

"I want more from you then that." Ben replied as he patted at a black box that was hidden in a pocket in his pants. Taking a deep breath he took the box out. "Kira will you..."

**'Captain you have an incoming transmission.'** a voice said over the comline, making Ben roll his eyes.

"Patch it through to my personal computer." Ben replied as he tapped at his combadge.

**'Aye sir.'**

As Kira stared at the box Ben held in his hand, she reached down into the recesses of her mind to remember what Earth custom this was and then it hit her.

"After." she said simply as she stared down at the box. With a smile, Ben stood to his feet and sat down at his desk and was surprised when his now fiancée sat in his lap. With a chuckle, he activated his personal computer and saw Tom's surprised face.

"Oh ummm, I'm sorry if I was disturbing you Captain." Tom started.

"You were but... I'll let it slide this time." Ben told him with a smile. "What do you have to report? Did you find out how far the Cardassians' empire has spread?"

"N...no sir, we found something else." Tom stuttered. "B'Elanna believes that it can change the tides of war into our favor."

"What is it?" Kira asked.

"She says that it's some kind of missile." Tom reported. "She beamed over to it now to try to reprogram it but she's going to need Sgt. O'Brien and Seven's help to bring it to Vidiia Prime."

"I'll get Seven and O'Brien immediately." Ben spoke up. "But how does B'Elanna believe that a single missile can help end this war?"

"Because it's explosive yield is 1,000 kilograms each of matter and antimatter." Tom told them. "Enough to destroy a small moon. I think she called it the Dreadnought."


End file.
